Harry Potter and the Beginning of the End
by Tez-gm
Summary: COMPLETE: Harry returns to Hogwarts for his final year. Voldemort has decided that the moment is right to strike. To fulfil the prophecy, Harry will need to rise to the occasion one final time. (sequel to Dormant Power)
1. Chapter 1 – Reminiscing

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Well. Here it is, the long awaited (cough, splutter, choke!) chapter 1 of my sequel; Harry Potter and the Beginning of the End. I hope it lives up to (some of!) your expectations.

This will pick up straight where Dormant stopped. Since both stories are really just one, but broken up, the epilogue for this will include notes to all those who have reviewed my stories. I'm not going to answer each and every question, I will merely just write a comment to you……mainly thanks really.

Er, since I am (apparently) one of the most 'popular' from our IMDb fanfic group…I will plug my fellow ficcers FFN addy's! We're all a big team, and generally help each other out when we get stuck with them, so…check out my C2 group.

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Reminiscing**

The sun was beating down in the mid-afternoon. The warmth was relaxing, and it gave a lazy comfort to those people living in Godric's Hollow. Out in the street, a skinny looking teenager with messy black hair and glasses was currently being shaken by a man with greying hair.

"Harry! Harry can you hear me? Darn it, why couldn't you wait to have fainted until _after_ you wrote on that piece of parchment!"

Harry Potter could just make out the voice of the last living friend of his parents, Remus Lupin. He slowly opened his eyes and let out a soft groan.

Remus sighed "thank Merlin. Finally, welcome back Harry. Don't do that again please."

"Sorry Remus. I just had the strangest dream. I dreamt you told me that house was mine" Harry replied rubbing the back of his head.

"It was no dream Potter. Now, if you'll kindly pick yourself out of the gutter and write the instructions out, we can discuss this further inside" growled Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, a former Professor of Harry's.

Remus helped Harry up, before going over and trying to rouse Harry's relatives, who had also fainted. Harry looked around to get his bearings. The last thing he remembered was Remus telling him that the house in front of them was Harry's, and whether or not he would allow them to use it. This wouldn't have been such an unusual request but for the fact that the majority of the group assembled were not exactly normal.

All were wizards or witches, except for Harry's relatives. And Harry himself was no ordinary wizard. He had survived a curse meant to kill him, delivered by one of the most evil Dark wizards known, Lord Voldemort. His parents, James and Lily Potter, had been murdered Halloween night nearly sixteen years ago, but amazingly Harry himself had escaped with nothing more than a lightening bolt scar on his forehead.

Harry grabbed the piece of parchment out of Remus' hands and thought about how to write the instructions to enter the house. Remus had wanted Harry to be secret keeper for the new location of the Order of the Phoenix, and underground movement of wizards and witches who were taking the fight to Voldemort.

Harry had found out about the Order two years ago, when they came to pick him up after he and his cousin, Dudley, had been attacked by a pair of Dementors. Harry remembered being incredibly frustrated back then, as no one would tell him much about what was going on. It had been because of this that Harry had lost the closest person he ever had to a father, Sirius Black. Sirius had been wrongly accused of betraying Harry's parents to Voldemort, and had been sent to Azkaban prison without a trial.

It was said that Sirius had also murdered one of his best friends, Peter Pettigrew, along with a crowd of thirteen people with a single curse. Harry found out the truth during his third year when Sirius escaped Azkaban, the only person to have ever done this without being aided. He had been told, by Sirius, that it was Pettigrew who betrayed James and Lily, before changing into his rat animagus form and disappearing for the next twelve years.

Harry didn't initially believe Sirius, and it wasn't until Sirius and Remus, who was one of Harry's Professors, grabbed Harry's best friends' pet rat that things become much clearer. Ron Weasley had been given the rat by his family, but had no idea that the rat was actually Peter. Remus and Sirius forced Peter out of his animagus form and the truth was uncovered.

Unfortunately, Peter escaped later that night as Remus transformed in his werewolf form, and it was left to Sirius to protect Harry and his friends from being ripped apart by their then Defence Professor. Harry's fourth year ended horribly as Peter helped Voldemort to return to power, after Harry had been kidnapped as his blood was required for the ritual. Harry had been performing in the triwizard tournament at the time, and neither he nor Cedric, the other Hogwarts representative, knew that the winner's cup had been transfigured into a portkey.

Cedric had been murdered, and Harry had been lucky to escape with his life. However, it was during Harry's fifth year that things began to get even worse. Voldemort found out about the connection he shared with Harry through his scar, and had used this to lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries to retrieve a prophecy about the two of them. That night Harry had lost Sirius, and had been told about the reason to why Voldemort wanted Harry dead.

A prophecy had been foretold shortly before Harry had been born, and had mentioned how Harry was the only person capable of beating Voldemort for good. Harry had spent the first few days of his summer break coming to terms with everything that had happened when things got more confusing. Pettigrew himself had shown up impersonating Harry's Uncle, Vernon, but Harry had found out and stunned him.

A few days after this event, Harry had been taken to Grimmauld Place, where a mysterious wizard named Trent Fuller showed up. Trent and Remus took Harry to the Room of Spirit and Time for training, where Harry dramatically increased his power and also found out a lot about Trent. How he had come into being when Tom Riddle turned dark and became Voldemort. It was Trent who came to Harry's rescue the night his parent's died, and dragged him out of the destroyed house before it collapsed.

Peter was taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which Harry had found out accidentally from Remus. Harry visited Peter on a couple of occasions and slowly came to know the man his father had become friends with. Peter had been forced to give up Harry's parents' location, and Harry had promised Peter to help him escape in return for his assistance in locating Voldemort.

Harry taught himself how to recognise other people's magical signature, and at the end of the year, both he and Peter went after Voldemort. He wasn't prepared when Remus, Trent and Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, turned up shortly afterwards. Voldemort overpowered Trent, before killing both Peter and Dumbledore. This triggered Harry into transforming, and after immobilising Voldemort, Harry then warned him that the next time they meet would be the last, before leaving with Remus and the others back to Hogwarts. Harry was brought out of his thoughts by Remus

"Harry. Are you going to use that parchment, or are you just going to stare at it all day?"

Harry apologised and turned his attention to the blank piece of parchment. He wrote the first thing that came into his mind

_The new location of the Order of the Phoenix is at MM_

He gave the parchment back to Remus who read it before handing it to the rest of the group. Once they had read the note, Remus burnt it and looked over to the block of land that was overgrown with trees. Unless you knew where to look, it would be easy to assume that the block of land was vacant.

"Well, now what are we supposed to do, boy?" Uncle Vernon asked, glaring at Harry who politely smiled in return.

"Now you have to think about what you just read. You'll see the house see enough Uncle Vernon."

His Uncle narrowed his eyes and was about to say something, when Dudley gasped

"He's right Dad! I can see the house now. How did that happen?"

"I already told you Dudley. It's called magic" Harry grinned as he saw his cousin's eyes widen.

Before long, the group had made their way into the hall of the place called Marauder's Mansion. If Harry was shocked the first time he entered the mansion, it was nothing to the looks his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin gave when they stepped inside. Aunt Petunia nearly fainted again, Uncle Vernon looked like he was about the burst a vein in his neck with the amount of magic that had been used to create the house, but Dudley's reaction was most surprising.

"Can you do all this stuff too?" He had asked Harry quite excitedly.

"Most of it, although I had a darn good teacher" Harry replied, grinning at Remus, who smiled back.

"Thank you Harry. But I haven't taught you how to do any of..."

"I meant Professor Flitwick, Remus." Harry said, ignoring the glare Remus then sent him.

Harry then headed upstairs to where the bedrooms were to unpack his trunks and other things. Remus also showed the Dursley's where they'd be staying for the next couple of months, before giving everyone, including Harry, the grand tour of Marauder's Mansion.

Harry had only seen the living room where they entered, so was looking forward to seeing exactly what Remus had done to the house. Remus led them through to the kitchen and dining area, which was twice the size of that at Grimmauld Place. The benchtops continued with the theme of being crafted from deep mahogany, as were the tables and chairs.

Remus then showed them the library, which reminded Harry of the one in the Spirit Room, but of course held books of many different topics. He then proceeded to lead through a corridor which curled around the back of the house and fed back into the other side of the living room. There was one study located along the corridor, and a meeting room, which Harry knew was for the Order meetings. Further along the corridor, there were three empty rooms, which Remus told them he hadn't yet figured out what to do with them.

Harry then went upstairs to unpack his things and was nearly done when someone knocked on his door.

"Come" he said, continuing to unpack.

"Harry?" he froze in disbelief and slowly turned around.

"A…Aunt Petunia?! Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, but then said "well yes actually. Why are we here? The only explanation we got was that it was for our own safety."

"Do you remember when I turned up at Privet Drive with that short blond-haired guy last year?" Petunia nodded, so Harry continued.

"Well, he was a teacher of mine. He also happened to be Voldemort's brother. Voldemort possessed him a few weeks ago, and now knows everything he did, including where Privet Drive is. You're here because I didn't want to see you get hurt."

Petunia looked shocked and Harry sighed. "Look. Even after everything you have done to make my life…not brilliant," he looked up and saw his Aunt give him a wry smile "you are the only family I have left."

"Th…thank you Harry. I…I don't know what to say. Is what that man said before true? Is this…mansion really yours?"

Harry nodded, "yeah, this is the same place where my parents' lived. That man, Remus, built it himself. He was one of my Dad's best mates, but he's the only one left now."

Petunia looked confused, "what do you mean?"

"There were four of them, five including my Mum. Peter died a few weeks ago, and Sirius went a year before that."

Harry sighed then leant back against the wall. "Both were my fault. They shouldn't have died like they did…"

"That's rubbish Harry." Harry nearly fell onto the floor in shock as Remus came into his room.

"Don't do that Remus! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry Harry, but don't beat yourself up over their deaths. Blame Voldemort if you have to blame anyone."

"You…you're that…" Petunia looked over at Harry and saw his eyes flash with anger. "…that friend of James. I recognise your name. Lily often spoke about you."

Remus raised an eyebrow "really. I hope she didn't say anything bad about me."

Petunia widened her eyes in shock and shook her head before turning to Harry. "I'd best be off Harry. Thank you again, even after how we treated you for all those years."

She then hurried out of the room leaving Harry and Remus alone.

"What was all that about?" Harry asked.

Remus' face flushed slightly in response, "well….ah. You see, Petunia sort of…well…"

Harry's mouth fell open in realisation. "She…she fancied you, didn't she!"

Remus nodded in reply, and Harry just shook his head. "When did you meet her?"

"End of my sixth year. Lily took James and the rest of us around muggle London. Lily's parents made her take Petunia along, saying that since Lily had been at Hogwarts, they hardly spent any time together anymore."

"But my Aunt hates anything to do with magic…" Harry began

"Because she was jealous of Lily. They were both quite close before Lily started at Hogwarts." Remus interrupted.

"She was always much more interested in me than the other way around. It never would have worked between us Harry. Everything turned out for the best…"

"No it didn't. I could've had you for an Uncle. That would've been loads better!"

Remus gave him a smile. "Don't think I haven't thought about it before Harry. Believe me, I really wanted to take you in, but Dumbledore insisted for them to have you instead. But this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I came up here to tell you that the Weasley's will be here tomorrow, and the funeral for Dumbledore will be held at Hogwarts this weekend. We've managed to narrow the list down to only those from his family, and the Order. Of course, you and your friends are welcome to attend."

Remus turned to leave, but Harry stopped him "what about Peter? When's his funeral?"

Remus sighed and faced Harry. "I'm not sure if he'll get one. No one would turn up aside from you and me…"

"Which is exactly why he should have one! I didn't want Sirius to have a funeral but you said it would insult his memory if we didn't. Peter deserves to be buried alongside his friends, Remus" Harry cut in, and Remus nodded.

"You're right, Harry. I'll see what I can do."

Remus then strode out the door leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2 – Trouble, The Great And The S...

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Poor Remus! Don't worry, that's the worst I do to him…for now!

Quite right Tuxedo! But some people might jump straight to this story, and hopefully after they read the first chapter, they might go back and read Dormant.

Oh, here's a link to my first ever one-shot. If you don't like the Remus/Sirius ones, then you probably won't like this either! However I believe it's the best I've done so far (including the remaining 30 odd chapters for BotE).

www. fan fiction .net /s / 2234 398/ 1/

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Trouble, The Great And The Small**

Harry wandered downstairs to be greeted by an empty kitchen. He briefly wondered where everyone was, but decided to help himself to some toast and juice. He had just finished his breakfast when he heard the front door open.

"Hey Harry. Long time no see!" Ron grinned as walked into the living room.

Harry grinned back, "yeah, all of about a day Ron."

Ron looked around in awe, "wow, this place is wicked! Whose is it?"

Harry smirked before answering "you ready for this…"

"Hello Harry dear. How are you? I hope you're settling into your new house" Mrs. Weasley interrupted as she came in behind Ron.

Ron looked at Harry in shock, but Harry just stood there grinning.

"You…this…is yours!"

Harry nodded, "Remus built this place on the same site that my parents used to live. I didn't even know he'd done it until yesterday. Where is everyone else by the way?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Remus came over earlier to give us the instructions. He's currently helping us pack some things to move here. The rest are starting to pack up items from Grimmauld Place."

"Oh, do you need any help packing? I can floo ov…"

Harry was interrupted as he picked up Remus' energy increase dramatically. He wondered why, and was answered instantly by Remus telepathically.

'Harry. I could use some help over here! Death Eaters have turned up. No idea how they knew where Arthur and Molly live, but please hurry!'

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked as he saw his friend's face pale.

"It's…Trent! I totally forgot about it! He knows where you live Ron. Death Eaters are there, I have to go!"

Ron opened his mouth to answer, but Harry disappeared with a 'pop'.

Mrs. Weasley looked stunned. "He's underage. He's not supposed to do that!"

"Don't worry Mum. Harry has a few tricks up his sleeve. Those Death Eaters don't stand a chance, trust me."

* * *

Harry reappeared near the Burrow and saw the battle taking place. He whipped his wand out of its holster. Harry had taken Moody's advice and his wand never left his side, even while he was sleeping.

He was about to transform and race over to help the others, when he got an idea. He raised his wand and thought about how happy he had been when he lifted the cup as captain earlier in the year.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted.

The Death Eaters all turned towards where the new voice had come from, and were startled to see a silver stag galloping towards them. The distraction worked just as Harry had planned. While the Death Eaters were busy with the new attacker, Remus and the rest of the Weasley's were able to stun quite a few of them before the Death Eaters fought back.

With their numbers severely reduced, one of the Death Eaters raised his arm and disappeared, with those able to soon following. All that remained were Remus, Harry, the rest of the Weasley's and the stunned Death Eaters on the ground.

"Thanks Harry. They caught us by surprise. I didn't even know they knew where the Burrow was." Remus said, as he caught his breath.

"No problem Remus. Voldemort knows where the Burrow is because Trent visited at Christmas, remember."

Remus nodded his head in realisation after Harry said this.

"So that's what your Patronus looks like, Harry. Ron said it was impressive. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't come along. As Remus said, they caught us totally by surprise." Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, I was taught by the best" Harry said and shot Remus a smile, which he returned.

"We'd better grab everything we can Dad. We don't want something like this to happen again." Fred remarked.

Harry then helped the others pack everything they could find. Fortunately, the actual building had escaped any damage. Ginny told Harry this was because most of them were outside at the time the attack began. Harry apologised for not even thinking about the fact Trent knew where they lived, but George waved him off.

"No need Harry. They probably would've found out some other way. At least no one got hurt."

"What do we do with them?" Harry asked, as he kicked one of the Death Eaters on the ground.

"Azkaban Harry…"

"So Voldemort can break them out again? I don't think so, Remus!" Harry interrupted.

"We shall take them to Hogwarts instead Mr. Potter" a stern voice said from behind him.

Harry turned around, "Professor McGonagall! How did you know what happened?"

"Molly Weasley informed me. I apparated here as soon as I could. They will most likely be transferred to Azkaban later, but for now they will stay at Hogwarts. Remus, would you please help me with transferring them to Hogwarts?"

"Certainly, but Harry will be able to take them directly there."

"Very well," she then turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, would you please transfer them to the same dungeon that Mr. Pettigrew was being held please."

Harry nodded. "Er, ok. I can take all of you at the same time if you like. If we grab everyone, we can go, provided everyone's connected and someone is touching me."

Harry then grabbed the arm of a Death Eater. Remus and the others then clutched onto the remaining ones, before Harry grasped Remus' arm. They all vanished in a flash of orange light.

Professor McGonagall informed Harry and the others about the progress of the new wards surrounding Hogwarts. She told them that they were expecting them to be complete by the end of next week. Harry was a little disappointed that this would most likely be the last time he'd be able to apparate around Hogwarts like he did the previous year.

Once the Death Eaters had been dropped off, and the rest of the Weasley's belongings were packed up, they made their way back to Marauder's Mansion. Ron and Mrs. Weasley immediately accosted them, and demanded to know what had happened. Remus and Mr. Weasley explained the situation, and Mrs. Weasley was thankful for Harry to have helped as he did.

Harry told her it was nothing, and that it was partly his fault that Voldemort knew where they lived. As Fred had done earlier, Ron scoffed at Harry telling him it wasn't his fault at all. They then settled down to have breakfast, while Harry went back upstairs to start writing his letter to Mike Knight about Trent's vault.

Remus came up later in the day to remind Harry about Dumbledore's funeral, and that Peter's would be held the next day. Harry told Remus that he didn't really feel like attending Dumbledore's funeral, as it was his actions which caused his death. Remus sat down on Harry's bed and sighed.

"Harry. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything Voldemort does. You didn't kill Dumbledore or Peter, he did. As great as you may one day became Harry, you won't be able to save everyone. Please come to the funeral, you know Dumbledore would want you to."

Harry nodded, and Remus quietly got up and left the room, again leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Two days later, Harry was getting ready to attend Dumbledore's funeral. Harry's friends were still trying to comfort him and say that it wasn't his fault, but Harry just couldn't believe his mentor was really gone. It had been just over three weeks since that fatal battle, and the wizarding world had finally settled down somewhat. The shock of Dumbledore's death had shaken the wizarding population almost as much as the announcement that Voldemort was truly back.

Harry felt a wave of sadness fill him every time he thought of his former Headmaster. The day of Dumbledore's death had been officially declared a public day of mourning, and the wizarding world was more than willing to show their respect. After all, it was Dumbledore who disposed of the threat Grindelwald posed some fifty years before. And if he'd had his way, he would have wanted to be around for the final battle against Voldemort.

As Remus had said, the ceremony was very private and was held on the Hogwarts grounds. The mourners were restricted to members of the Dumbledore family, and members of the Order of the Phoenix. On the front row of seats sat Aberforth and most of the Order. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were placed in the seats behind them. Hagrid was sobbing loudly and causing quite a disruption.

As the ceremony in the Great Hall started, everyone stood up and sang the Hogwarts songs, one of Albus' requests. Aberforth, as the former Headmaster's closest living relative, took the podium first and addressed the small crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. As many of you will know, I am not as good with words as my late brother, but I have a few things I would like to say. Albus was a man of strength, honour and integrity. A man well loved by everyone whose lives he touched, simply by being himself.

"Many people over the years have thought him mad, or at the very least a little eccentric, but underneath his multicoloured robes and lemondrops was a man who brought hope to us all. A country, who without him, would have fallen into Darkness by now. A country who owes him a great debt. I am Aberforth Dumbledore, brother of Albus Dumbledore, and I am proud to call him family. Thank you."

As Aberforth stepped down, a great round of applause filled the Hall. Dumbledore had touched each of their lives in a personal way, so they each felt that Aberforth's words were true. As those people close to the Headmaster stood to say a few words, the atmosphere at the funeral became increasingly emotional.

Like at Sirius' funeral just under a year ago, Harry was lost in his thoughts. He wondered if Dumbledore would have forgiven him for going after Voldemort like he did. Harry also thought about all the things the Headmaster had done for him. He always felt that somehow Dumbledore was always trying to find new ways to test him.

His thoughts strayed to the Mirror of Erised in his first year, to receiving his father's invisibility cloak and his Nimbus 2000 broomstick. He then thought of everything Dumbledore had told him that night Sirius died, about not letting Voldemort realise how close the two of them actually were. If Sirius, and now Remus, were like the father he never had, Dumbledore was most definitely the grandfather figure in Harry's life. A single tear slowly trickled down Harry's cheek.

* * *

In the aftermath of Dumbledore's funeral, it could've been easy to forget about the other man that perished the same night, Peter Pettigrew. Remus and Harry decided to have his funeral the next day. It was a decidedly less grand affair than Dumbledore's, as only Harry and Remus were there.

Neither of them said anything, and Harry watched in silence as Remus lowered Peter's casket into the ground next to Sirius and Harry's parents. Harry looked over to Remus, and noticed tears streaming down his face.

Harry took a deep breath and spoke "I won't pretend to know how you feel, Remus, because I don't. When I first met Peter, I just couldn't believe how this man could ever be friends with you, Sirius and my Dad. But over the course of the last year, I came to know the real Peter, the one who you knew at Hogwarts.

"Peter turned Dark because he wanted to be like you. He was easily duped by Voldemort, but in the end he fought back. I can now see where he fit in with the Marauder's. Dad and Sirius were the ringleaders, coming up with the pranks. You were the voice of reason, and pointed out any holes in their ideas. And Peter…well Peter was the quiet bloke, who would follow you without question. You could always rely on him to not get you into trouble, even if he could be at times a little clumsy.

"He was shrewd and cunning. I'm guessing it was him who came up with the excuses that got you out of many sticky situations. I'm just glad I got to know the man my father was friends with, and not the monster he turned into. He owed me a wizard's debt after I didn't let you and Sirius kill him that night in the Shrieking Shack. A debt, which I'm proud to say he more than repaid. Rest in peace, Peter Cameron Pettigrew."

Remus stood in silence for a while and wiped the tears from his face. "Indeed he shall Harry. How did you come up with that anyway?"

Harry shrugged "no idea. It just felt…appropriate. I always wondered where he fitted in with you guys."

Remus smiled, "well, you guessed right. That summed Peter up perfectly. I have to ask you something Harry. The Order's been discussing the past few weeks in great detail and we've come to a decision."

Harry looked over at Remus, and waited for him to continue.

"It was decided at the last meeting, that…I'll just say it. Would you like to join?"

Harry was startled. "Join what? The Order?"

Remus nodded "even though you haven't finished school yet, we think you more than deserve a place in the Order."

Harry was stunned. He was about to respond, but Remus didn't let him, "you don't have to answer straight away Harry. You can think it over for a while, alright."

Harry nodded in reply. The two of them then made their way back into the house. Harry hadn't given the Order much thought. He knew Ron was seventeen, and decided to talk to him about it before making his final decision.


	3. Chapter 3 – The Choices Of Harry James P...

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

A bit of action nice and early for you! Well I do believe that Voldemort will be much more aggressive now that a certain someone is out of the picture!

Cura, I think you may have been a tad over the top. Much appreciated though!

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The Choices Of Harry James Potter**

Harry called out to Ron, after he saw his friend heading off to go to bed.

"Hey Ron, are you going to join the Order now you're seventeen?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders and came into Harry's room. "I might as well. Everyone else in my family bar me and Ginny have."

"Percy hasn't though" Harry reminded him.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "Percy is a pompous, arrogant git who wouldn't know his head from his backside half the time"

"He _is_ your brother though Ron. Has he apologised for everything he did back then?"

Ron nodded. "Yes, he has. But I'm never going to forgive him. Nor should you. You're the one he should apologise to Harry. Him and the whole Ministry, but of course they'll never do that."

"Look Ron. I know that you won't forgive Percy…"

"Nor has Ginny, Fred, George, Bill or Charlie…"

"But your parents have. How would you feel if Percy died, and the last thing you told him was how much you hated him?" Harry asked.

"He'd deserve it." Ron spat.

Harry could hardly believe his ears.

"You're not being serious are you Ron? He's on our side!"

"So is Snape, but you don't exactly get on with him do you!"

Harry had to concede that Ron had a point. Harry then told Ron something he'd been thinking about since his talk with Remus earlier.

"I'm not going to join the Order."

Ron looked stunned. "Wh…why not?"

"I don't see the point anymore Ron. If they'd told me exactly what was going on two years ago, Sirius would still be alive."

"You don't know that…"

"YES I do! If someone had told me why I needed to learn Occlumency, or more about why Voldemort was constantly thinking about that door in the Department of Mysteries, I never would have gone there in the first place!"

Ron flinched slightly and replied "but you then wouldn't have known about the prophecy Harry. You said that Dumbledore only told you after you both came back that night."

Harry sighed "and look where it got him Ron. I didn't tell anyone this, but Dumbledore could've told me about the prophecy at the end of our _first_ year."

"Then why didn't he?"

"Because he felt I was too young. Same thing second year, and third. Only after Voldemort had come back, did he think I was ready to be told what he called _the greatest burden of all_. Think of all the things that might not have happened had he told me…"

"But he had his reasons, Harry. Think of what might have happened had you not realised you saw yourself do that Patronus in third year. Both you and Sirius would be soulless." Ron interrupted.

Harry's mouth opened but nothing came out. Ron was right, Harry hadn't thought of that before.

Ron sighed "try not to think about it too much Harry. I'll try to forgive Percy, but you can't blame yourself or Dumbledore for everything that's happened. You would never have transformed if it weren't for what happened a month or so ago."

Ron smiled weakly then left to go to his bedroom, leaving Harry doing his best fish-out-of-water impression.

* * *

Harry was still shocked at what he and Ron had discussed. On top of that, Harry was still mourning at being responsible for Dumbledore's death, and was having enormous difficulty in getting to sleep. He was finally drifting off when a blue light caught his eye. He sat up, grabbed his glasses, and nearly fell out of his bed when he saw what was going on. 

His eyes widened in shock as he saw a transparent figure standing next to his bed. It let off a soft blue glow, and as Harry looked up into the figure's face, he was met by a pair of familiar twinkling blue eyes.

"Pr…Professor Dumbledore!" Harry gasped.

"Do not worry about me Harry. My time here was over. I didn't have anymore to teach you."

"But…how? Why are you here now?" Harry managed to stammer out.

The translucent figure of Dumbledore smiled before answering "you said it yourself. The ones we love never truly leave us Harry. You are having trouble finding something to defeat Voldemort with. Might I suggest something?"

Harry nodded for his former Headmaster to continue.

"Trent told me how you are unable to use the Killing curse. The only previous wizard in history who has been unable to use that particular curse was Merlin. The only theory I can come up with as to why you can not use it is that when Voldemort's curse backfired, it also removed your own ability to use that same curse."

Harry sat in thought before answering "so basically, I need to find something else. I don't think I could use a sword. I mean Trent was much better with those than me, so now Voldemort will be as well."

"I agree Harry. There is only one way I can think of to truly defeat Voldemort once and for all."

Harry looked eagerly at Dumbledore and awaited his answer.

"You must find a way to destroy his soul."

Harry was shocked.

"You…you mean a…like the Dementors kiss?" he managed to say.

Dumbledore nodded, "yes, but Voldemort will be able to repel them now as Trent could."

Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Then there's no way to fulfil the prophecy is there?"

"There is always a way Harry. When I was a young lad and attended Hogwarts, there was a legend going around of a spell that did achieve this in ancient times. No record of the spell was ever kept, which is why it was only legend."

"Then how am I going to find out if it's true?" Harry asked.

"Might I suggest you study Dementors? If you can conclude how they do it, you might be able to incorporate that into your own spell."

Harry was a little puzzled. "But where am I going to find enough information on Dementors?"

"Alas Harry, I cannot answer that. There is precious little information known about Dementors, even in the Department of Mysteries. Your Boggart is one though, perhaps you should start there. I must leave you now Harry, we will meet again, but hopefully not for a long while. My only regret is not seeing you graduate. Do not blame yourself for the lives Voldemort and his followers take. Use it as motivation to rid our world of him instead. Good bye Harry James Potter."

"Wait! I don't want you to leave!"

"I am truly sorry Harry, but I must. Good luck my boy." And the ghost of Albus Dumbledore faded from Harry's vision for the first but final time.

* * *

Harry was sitting at the table the next morning pondering everything Dumbledore had told him last night. He was just stirring his cereal around and Ron and was trying to get him to eat something. Ron thought Harry was still blaming himself for what happened to Peter and Dumbledore, but no one was prepared for what Harry said. 

"Remus, I need to talk with you."

The older wizard looked over to his surrogate Godson, "what about, Harry?"

"I'm not joining the Order."

Every conversation that had been going on at breakfast stopped and all eyes were soon on Harry.

"You…are you sure about that Harry? You have as much right, if not more than anyone, to join."

Harry shook his head, "I don't see the point anymore. I know what needs to be done, as do you. In actual fact, I need a Dementor."

Ron sprayed his pumpkin juice all over the table, as did Fred and George. Remus and Mrs. Weasley both dropped their cups of tea, while Mr. Weasley and Ginny nearly fell off their chairs.

"Wha…where did that come from Harry? You mean a Boggart don't you?" Remus asked while he and everyone else cleaned up from the shock of Harry's announcement.

Harry shook his head, "no. I mean I need a Dementor. A real one."

"Ah Harry. May I ask why? That's not exactly a…well…a usual request" Mr. Weasley said.

"Simple. I can't kill Voldemort with the Killing curse since I can't cast it. I can't kill him with swords as Trent was much more skilled in that area than me. The only choice is to destroy his soul. And to do that, I need to know exactly what goes on with the Dementors kiss."

Everyone sat in stunned silence before Ron spoke up, "great idea Harry. Why don't you just go and ask V…Volde…him for a spare one to practice on. Are you mental?!"

"No Ron, I'm not. I think it's quite logical to be honest. Dumbledore told me of a legend he heard when he went to Hogwarts about a similar spell. Remember this; if I can't find a way to do this, then no one will."

"That's nonsense Harry dear. No one expects you to single-handedly beat…"

"Actually Molly, that's exactly what has to happen." Remus interrupted before explaining the prophecy to those who didn't know it yet. Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley all sat wide eyed during the explanation before Mrs. Weasley engulfed Harry in a bone crushing hug that could easily rival one of Hagrid's.

"I'm so sorry Harry dear. I had no idea. How can you handle something like that?"

Harry shrugged "it's no big deal. At least it's giving me a chance, and sometimes that's all it takes. One wrong move by him and all the pain could all be over. Besides, after last month, I think I scared him a bit."

"I'll say. When are you going to show the rest what happened Harry? I want to see your transformation again. That was spectacular, even if the circumstances were somewhat more…subdued." Remus replied.

Harry looked thoughtful before answering that he'd show them in his pensieve after Hermione arrived later that day. The rest of breakfast passed with everyone suggesting ways to get information about the Dementors kiss. Mr. Weasley promised he'd try and find out as much as possible at work.


	4. Chapter 4 – Reconciliation

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Told you I'd explain why Harry can't use Avada!

Oh, and before I forget, a bit of 'The Matrix' for you Tux! No prizes for guessing which bit though!

No need to worry Bailey. I am pathetic at trying to write romance stuff. The only people Harry gets with are...one is Voldemort (hey, he HAS to fight him again remember!) and...you will find out soon enough. Probably not in the way you think though!

And one more thing about this chapter. You'll either agree with it or you won't, there's no middle ground. Sorry to those who don't like it, but….well, you can wait until I put up chapter 5 I guess!

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Reconciliation**

"That was incredible Harry! Is that really what he looks like?" Hermione asked after Harry had shown everyone what happened the night of his transformation in his pensieve.

"It is. Not the most pleasant sight I've ever seen." Harry replied.

"Got to agree with you on that mate, he's freaky! I can't believe Peter took that curse for you."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Nor could I Ron. He more than repaid his debt to me from three years ago."

"I'm glad I wasn't there Harry. You were almost as scary as Vol…Voldemort himself!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well, I was a tad annoyed at the time Ginny. He'd just killed one of the greatest wizards ever known."

"But still. That transformation Harry, wow! What do you say George, reckon we could come up with something like that for the shop?"

"Possibly. We might be able to market glowing robes or something like that." George answered nodding his head.

"I'd rather you didn't guys. The less people that know about me being able to fully transform, the better."

"Alright Harry, we shall respect our fellow owners' opinion…" Fred began.

"And wait until _after_ you've beaten him for good before doing that!" George finished with a grin.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. He could hardly believe how quickly the twins could come up with an idea. They were still discussing the best way to make the robes work long after Harry had departed for his room to put his pensieve away.

* * *

A week passed after Harry had shown the others what happened the night Peter and Dumbledore were killed, and the twins had finally finished talking about the glowing robes. Harry was in his room, trying to find any information about Dementors in Sirius' old books, when Dudley came into his room. Harry looked up at his cousin 

"What do you want Dudley?"

"I…well…I was…wondering…how long we have to…to stay here for." Dudley stammered.

"I don't know. With Voldemort back, and knowing where Privet Drive is…" Harry trailed his voice off.

"Will we ever go back?"

Harry sighed. "It's not up to me to decide Dudley. If your parents want to go back they probably can. I just didn't want to you all to die, that's all."

"Y…you mean, he'd k…kill us!" Dudley squeaked out.

"Well, he might not do it personally, but yes he would want you dead. Apart from you three, I have no relatives, Dudley. My friend Ron's family comes pretty close, but we're not blood related."

"How would he do it then? Would he use…magic?" Harry had to suppress a laugh as Dudley spoke the last word very quietly.

"It is the easiest way. My parents were killed like that. Two words and it was all over."

Dudley looked horrified, and Harry tried to reassure him, "don't worry. You're safe here. He doesn't know where we are, and even if he did, he can't enter the place as it's protected."

"Is that why we had to read that note?"

Harry nodded, "yeah. It's called the Fidelius charm. It makes this place hidden to those who haven't read my note."

"Bu…but that man burnt it the day we came here"

"Yes, Remus did burn it. But I can write Dudley, it's no problem to write another note out. That's how the rest who weren't there with us that day, are able to come here now."

Dudley eventually nodded in understanding. He sat down on Harry's bed and looked at the young wizard.

"Have you done it?" he asked

"Done what?" Harry replied, somewhat confused.

"Killed someone. Like him?"

Harry closed his eyes and he could hear Lestrange's final scream echoing through his mind. He opened his eyes and looked at his cousin.

"No, not like he does. We got taught how to do it this past school year," Dudley's eyes widened in terror, "but for some reason I can't do it. It seems I'm unable to use that spell."

Harry sighed and continued "but I have killed someone before, not even six months ago."

Dudley was stunned, "wh…why?"

Harry was about to answer 'because she wanted to kill me', but just then the realisation of the truth hit him.

"Revenge. She killed my Godfather the year before. She had me cornered, and was about to torture me before handing me over to Voldemort. But a couple of friends came to help. Me and Neville stabbed her with a couple of swords. She didn't stand a chance." Harry blinked away the tears that had formed in his eyes, before looking back at Dudley.

"She tortured Neville's parents until they became insane shortly after my parents had been killed, sixteen years ago." Harry added after seeing the blank look Dudley was giving him.

"Why does he want _you_ so badly?"

"Because he failed to kill me first time around. The curse backfired onto Voldemort, and I was left with the scar on my forehead."

"Then…why didn't he die?"

Harry shrugged, "no one knows. He was trying to become immortal. I guess he did as he didn't die from the curse, but no one knows anything about what he did to achieve it. That's also why I'm famous."

"Famous? You? How?" Dudley asked in disbelief.

Harry sighed again. "Because I'm the only person in history to have survived that curse. I'm the 'boy-who-lived'. It's rather pathetic really. I mean, who wants to be famous because they survived something their parents didn't?"

Dudley was speechless.

"You have no idea of what I'd give up, just to have a normal life Dudley. And if that wasn't enough, just over a year ago, I found out that I'm the only person who can defeat Voldemort for good."

"So is that why you're always up here then? Trying to find something…out?"

Harry nodded, "yeah, I need to be prepared. I intend on living for a little while yet, so I'll have to beat him."

"Can't you just shoot him with a gun or something?" Dudley asked.

"I doubt it. He'd just block the bullets before they hit him…"

"That's a nice trick!" Dudley interrupted and Harry chuckled

"I s'pose it is! The only way I can come up with how to beat him, is to destroy his soul."

"Like those Dementoid things that turned up a couple of years ago?" Dudley inquired.

"Yeah, like the Dementors. Unfortunately, not much is known about them, so it might prove to be harder than I hoped." Harry replied.

"What did you hear when they arrived?"

"The same thing I heard the first time."

"You mean you've met them before!" Dudley exclaimed.

Harry nodded again, "Over three years ago. I always hear the same thing. I can hear my Mum screaming, begging Voldemort to kill her instead of me. Then I hear my Dad, telling Mum to take me and to get out of the house."

"That's loads worse than me. I remembered that day at the zoo when you set that snake on me! That and when that guy came and took you away seven years ago."

Harry smiled as he remembered Hagrid turning up to tell him he was a wizard. How he gave Dudley a tail for eating Harry's cake.

"Dementors make you relive the very worst experiences in your life. If they're the worse things that have happened to you, then count yourself lucky! I'd hate to think what Sirius must have heard when he was in Azkaban, surrounded by them every day."

"That name sounds familiar. Wasn't he that deranged murderer who escaped?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that. Dudley was about to ask what was so funny, but Harry answered it for him

"Sirius was my Godfather. He was wrongly accused of those murders, and his name was cleared last year. I just totally forgot that the muggles wouldn't have known that!"

"Muggles? What are they?"

"It's what we call people like yourself. People who don't have any magic in them." Harry explained, "much nicer than 'freaks' don't you think?" he added with a cheeky grin.

"Is what you said true boy?" a gruff voice came from behind him.

Harry looked around and froze.

"Uncle Vernon? Aunt Petunia? How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough" Harry's Aunt replied.

"So boy, is everything you told Dudley true?"

Harry nodded in response, and his Uncle came over to where Dudley was sitting on Harry's bed.

"Then it seems we owe you an apology for the way we treated you over the years. Despite all that, you insisted on bringing us here. Thank you Harry."

Harry was shocked. It was the first time he could remember his Uncle ever calling him that.

"We've talked with a few of your…elders Harry, and they all said the same thing. I won't lie to you I never really got on with my sister's friends, her husband in particular. But yet you've shown us compassion beyond what we deserve from you."

"Your Aunt is right Harry. I'm sorry for the way I always put you down, and belittled you."

Harry had recovered from his shock, and managed to say "when did you start thinking like that? Is it only because I brought you here?"

"No Harry. It was when you saved Dudley from those Dementoids. You didn't have to do that, and I doubt I would have if I were in your position. Will you forgive us for everything we've done?" Vernon asked.

"Alright, what have you done with my real Aunt and Uncle? Why didn't you tell me this last year?"

"You were only with us for little over a week, most of which you spent in your room" his Aunt told him.

Harry knew deep down that they were being sincere in their apology. He looked over at Dudley and his Uncle, before turning back to his Aunt.

"I will forgive you, but I probably won't forget any of it. Call it a compromise, a reconciliation if you like." Harry told them.

"Very well Harry. Thank you for your gratitude. I have one final question though," Harry turned to his Uncle and waited for him to continue.

"What in blazes name is Quidditch?"

Harry laughed out loud, and it took him a long time to calm down enough to explain the basic rules of Quidditch, his cousin listening in rapt silence particularly.


	5. Chapter 5 – Sensing Trouble

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I'd like to think the Dursley's will come to realise exactly what it means to be associated with Harry. Harry saved Dudley from the Dementors in Order, and I had him realise it was Pettigrew early on in Dormant.

Yes they've been cruel to him over the years, but Harry is far more mature now, and I believe he would find it within himself to protect his 'family'. Sorry if you think I'm wrong, but I want to tie off any loose ends and this is one of them for me. Sorry also to those who think I'm right, or have read loads of other stories where they make up and believe I'm just wasting my breath writing this little bit!

In that case, ĐÄvE, you'll enjoy some of the stuff I have in store!

Oh, and before I forget; the prequel. I have made a start on it, but I am yet to put my notes in any order. Check my profile if you have no idea what I am talking about (and yes FFN removed the 99 from my name…I have no idea why either).

I have decided to update 'The Apprentice'. It will make much more sense, believe me. I didn't realise exactly how short it really was. It probably will now even make sense regardless if you've read Dormant or not. Why did I update it though? Because of the prequel. Things happen in it, that I want this to refer to. Trust me when I say it'll be much better than what it was. I'll let you know when it's been fully updated, which it now has been! So if you've already read it, or if you'd like an early sneak preview of my prequel…you can go and read it!

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Sensing Trouble**

Harry sighed and threw his book on the ground in frustration. It had been a week after the Dursley's had asked Harry's forgiveness which he had accepted. He had spent most of his time finishing his homework and trying to find out any information about Dementors from Sirius' books.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Remus asked.

"There's nothing, NOTHING about them, Remus. I've looked through all of Sirius' books, and come up with nothing new at all!"

"It might be time to visit the Spirit Room, Harry. Maybe we can find something there."

Harry's head shot up. "Good idea. I'll ask Hermione, Ron and Ginny if they want to come. We'd get through more reading that way."

Remus nodded, "you'd better think about you need then, Harry. The room has to be prepared remember."

"Well yeah, but this time will be different, Remus. We won't be doing much training this time round. We could take our swords if you like. We didn't finish our battle from last time when Trent interrupted us."

Remus smirked, "alright then. What's the score anyway? Twenty-five to zero or something isn't it?"

Harry glared before replying "I hardly think its fair when you had the benefit of training before, and I was only just learning!"

"Life's not fair, Harry. You know that better than most. Oh, one rule though. You can't fully transform." Remus said.

"Sure. As long as you don't use spells that I don't know, you've got a deal."

Remus agreed and Harry then left to find his friends to ask if they wanted to help him. The three of them quickly agreed and they decided to go the next day. The five of them all packed up their belongings, and Harry made sure to pack his swords and Firebolt for the trip.

* * *

The next day came around, and Harry, Remus, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all made their way to the living room after breakfast. After the promise of being back tomorrow, Harry and the rest then vanished without a trace. 

"Whoa! So this is the Spirit Room. Is it always this…empty?" Ron remarked.

"It's kind of like the Room of Requirement, Ron. But yes, it is normally this sparse…and large."

"Where is this place, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry grinned "sorry Hermione, I can't tell you. Maybe one day you'll know."

"Trent told me a bit about it, Harry. So he made you guardian of it then?" Remus enquired.

"Yes he did. But that's not why we're here. Let's get started. I'll show you where all the bedrooms and stuff are, follow me."

With that, Harry and the others headed towards the open building. Harry gave Remus a knowing smile, and they walked into the building, and Harry showed them around. He pointed out the hourglass, and told them exactly the same thing Remus had told Harry the first time he came here.

They came to the bedrooms, and Harry dropped his belongings into his room before heading back to the living room where once again, the bookcase was located. This time however, it was empty. Harry closed his eyes and thought about exactly what he wanted to find.

He knew that not much was known about Dementors, so instead he just thought about having information about Dark creatures in general. When he next opened his eyes, he wasn't surprised to see the bookcase completely filled with books. He was about to grab a book to start reading, when Remus came in.

"Now this looks familiar. Trent did this when we were trying to find a cure for my lycanthropy. What'd you ask it for?"

"Anything on all the Dark creatures known. Hey Remus, where did Trent take you that night so you could interrogate Peter?"

Remus smiled, "Hogwarts. We had Peter in the Room of Requirement before shifting him to the dungeons. Why'd you ask?"

Harry shrugged. "No reason. I initially thought he took you here, but obviously not since Trent came back a few seconds later. Do you want to start on reading a few of these? I'll go and see how the others are doing. I'm surprised Hermione's not already out here actually."

"Not a problem, Harry. I think I heard her say she wanted to get her homework done."

Harry rolled his eyes, "yep, that sounds like Hermione. I probably should tell her that she can have access to any book she wants. But we have a whole year here, why does she want to do her homework first thing?"

"Hermione is very organised, Harry. Surely you must have noticed that by now." Remus answered

Harry nodded in agreement before going off to find the others.

* * *

Three months had passed, Harry and the others had gone over about half of the books, and still hadn't found anything useful. Harry had suggested testing a Boggart, just to see if he could sense any magical signature from it, but Remus felt it better to read all the books first. 

Eventually, Harry had run out of patience. He pictured a Boggart hiding in a locked trunk, like the one Remus had used when he first taught Harry the Patronus charm. A loud thumping noise soon was heard, and Ron looked around wildly.

"Wh…what's going on?"

"I'm fed up of not finding anything. That is a Boggart. I'm going to see if I can sense anything from…"

"Harry, we've been over this before…" Remus interrupted, but Harry cut him off

"Yeah, just under a month ago, Remus. Besides, I know Hermione can produce a fully fledged Patronus, so what could possibly go wrong?"

He added "don't answer that!" as he saw the older wizard open his mouth.

Harry moved the trunk outside the building and moved away from it.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let it out."

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Harry? I mean no one's ever attempted anything like this before."

Harry sighed, "yes, Remus. We've been over this already! I'm just going to see if I can sense anything from one. You guys just concentrate on producing a Patronus in case it gets too close to me. Open the trunk."

Remus sighed then cast the unlocking charm. The trunk lid popped open and out glided a Boggart-Dementor.

Harry raised his Occlumency shields and looked at the Boggart-Dementor carefully, trying to focus in on its energy signature. He was somewhat startled to find that he couldn't sense anything from it but could feel something else. But before he could distinguish exactly what he did feel, he vaguely started to hear the familiar pleas of his Mother.

'No, not Harry! Please not Harry!'

The voice then changed,

'There's nothing you can do, Harry…nothing…he's gone.'

Harry recognised Remus' voice from the night Sirius died. But he didn't hear anything else as someone shouted "Expecto Patronum!"

The Dementor stumbled backwards, and Harry was shocked. He couldn't actually sense the charm but he could sense its effect. The Boggart-Dementor then recovered and started to glide towards Harry once again, and Harry finally figured out what it was he was sensing. He quickly raised his wand before saying

"Riddikulus!"

The Boggart-Dementor stopped moving and its long flowing black robes were changed into a bright pink tutu. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Remus burst out laughing and the Boggart exploded in a cloud of smoke.

Remus then moved over to where Harry was standing.

"Well that's one way of making a Dementor less frightening! Did you find anything out?" he asked trying to recover from his fit of laughter.

Harry nodded "I know that Occlumency is useless against them. I also know that Dementors don't have an aura."

Ginny looked frustrated "You mean you couldn't sense anything at all? Well that was a complete waste of time…"

"No it wasn't. They don't have an aura because they suck it in from around them. I could feel my power along with all of yours weakening. Our energy was being sucked towards the Dementor. It's kind of hard to explain."

Hermione looked thoughtful before she said "are you suggesting that they're like a black hole, Harry? But whereas a black hole sucks in the all the light around them, Dementors take our energy."

Harry slowly nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly what I'm trying to say, Hermione. I could also feel the Patronus. Well not the actual spell, but I could feel it block our energy from being sucked into it. Is any of this making sense?"

Ron shook his head and Hermione punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! What was that for, Hermione? Harry asked if it made sense and it doesn't make any to me. What's your problem?" Ron rubbed his arm where Hermione fist had connected with it.

"My problem, Ronald, is that Harry wasn't asking you, were you Harry."

"Er, well Ron is here, Hermione, and he's entitled to his opinion. But you're right, I was directing my question more towards you and Remus. It doesn't make much sense to me either right now to tell you the truth."

* * *

The rest of the time in the Spirit Room passed, with Remus refusing to allow Harry to practice on a Boggart again. Harry had begrudgingly agreed and the five of them concentrated solely on the books. The four students had finished their homework for the upcoming school year, and Remus had also completed his class schedules. 

Harry, Remus, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had exhausted the Spirit Room's library and had come up with no clue as to how a Dementor performs its kiss. There was precious little information on Dementors at all, and those which did have any, usually just stated that Dementors were one of the least studied creatures. Harry had even used the room's power to find any information on black holes or any spell remotely similar to the kiss. But again, their search proved futile.

The final day in the room was coming to an end when Remus sighed.

"There's nothing here, Harry."

"I _know_, Remus. I've been told that hardly anything is known about Dementors, but I am surprised that there's no record of any spell that's even remotely close to their kiss. I wonder why that rumour died out."

"Maybe those who actually did the spell turned into the first Dementors or something Harry. Who knows? All this talk about those foul beasts are starting to make me lose my appetite."

Hermione looked shocked, "you might be onto something, Ron! That actually makes sense. I mean, no one knows when or how Dementors actually came into..."

"Enough, Hermione. I'm hungry and don't want you to lecture us again!" Ron interrupted, and Hermione glared in response.

Harry decided to stop this argument before it really got started. "Well, we can't have that happening can we Ron. The door is there now, so we might as well head back home since we're all packed. The only way I'm going to find out how they do the kiss, is to witness it."

Remus' eyes widened in shock. "No, Harry. You are not going to do what I think you are."

"And what might that be, Remus?" Harry said with a slight smirk on his face, as he stopped at the exit.

Remus narrowed his eyes before answering "under no circumstance are you going to where Death Eaters and Dementors are raiding someplace, just to see if you can figure out how Dementors perform their kiss."

Harry bit his lip. "Oooh, close! But not quite right, Remus. I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Then what exactly _were_ you thinking of doing then" Remus replied, his eyes boring into Harry's, who grinned before answering,

"I think it might be time to pay Voldemort a little visit."


	6. Chapter 6 – Express Post

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Tux; my prequel is a side story I guess…like Apprentice is. But it will also provide a bit of background as to their final year. Yes Trent is in it, but I'm planning on doing it from mainly the Marauders perspective. All my stories (save 'Best Thing' as it's a one-shot) will interconnect. You'll find out bits and pieces if you read just one, and you'll find out a lot more if you read all of them! However, remember, again, these are just my ideas.

An example? I shall try to answer why Sirius would trust Peter over Remus. How the map got confiscated (in depth anyway, I do mention it later in BotE). I pick on Remus a fair bit…only because there's no Harry in 1976!

Ok, so a little bit of a cliffie, but not much!

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Express Post**

"WHAT! Harry, are you totally mental!" Ginny nearly screamed the moment the five of them had arrived back at Marauder's Mansion.

"Not at all, Ginny. Ron actually gave me the idea…"

"Whoa, hang on a minute! I don't recall…" Ron began.

"You said it just after I told everyone that I wasn't going to join the Order."

"Bu…but I was just kidding, Harry! I didn't mean for you…"

"Doesn't matter, Ron. Unless someone can come up with a better idea of where to get information about this, I don't really have much of a choice. Oh and my sincere apologies, Remus."

The older wizard was confused, "what for, Harry? You haven't done anything…yet."

Harry smiled, "no, but we didn't get a chance to finish our duel from last year."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. You didn't get any flying in either though" Remus reminded him.

"True. Well, we'll have to fix that next time then" Harry replied.

Harry then walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast, and wasn't really surprised when the rest of them followed him. They were soon joined by Bill, Charlie and Mrs. Weasley, and the discussion mainly centred on Harry wanting to 'visit' Voldemort. Eventually Harry relented, saying he would wait until Halloween, and if they could find something by then, he wouldn't bother going to Voldemort.

Just before they finished, Harry asked Bill something that had been annoying him since the first day he came to Grimmauld Place.

"Hey Bill? Is this the building that those plans showed a couple years back?"

Bill looked confused, so Harry explained, "my first night at Grimmauld Place. You had a full Order meeting, we then came in and I saw some plans of a building layout. But before I could take a good look at it, you vanished them."

"Oh that. No, that was a copy of the blueprints to the Ministry. How the heck could you remember that, Harry?" Bill asked once he realised what Harry had meant.

"I remember the strangest things, Bill, believe me!" Harry replied and he and Bill shared a laugh before their conversation turned to Harry's Quidditch camp and what he hoped to get out of it. Charlie, Ron and Ginny were the most interested in this, as they were the only ones, apart from Harry, to have played Quidditch for Gryffindor.

* * *

July 31 dawned, and Harry was woken by a tapping on his window. He glanced over and saw an owl hovering outside. He also noted it was just light outside, and Harry guessed the time to be around six in the morning.

He went over and opened the window to let the owl. Hedwig opened one eye when Harry opened her cage, but said nothing when Harry grabbed her water bowl to give to the post owl. The owl hooted in thanks, gave Harry two letters before drinking from the bowl.

As Harry was going over the letters, he saw that one was from the Ministry, and the other was from Gringotts. He didn't notice the post owl fly off, until Hedwig hooted at Harry. He quickly put her water bowl back in the cage, and closed his window before turning his attention to the Ministry letter first.

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_We at the Ministry of Magic would like to congratulate you on becoming of age in the Wizarding world. As you may be aware, you are now permitted to use magic without any restrictions we have previously had in place._

_Also, you are of the age to be able to obtain your Apparition license. We have scheduled your one hour practical exam to take place at 10am, August 1. If you desire to not accept this time, please respond back as soon as possible via owl so that other arrangements can be made._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Cornelius Fudge_

_British and Irish Minister of Magic_

"Ah, I wondered what all the commotion was. That from the Ministry then?" Remus asked as he came into Harry's room.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I didn't even know they schedule your exam. Is it hard?"

Remus snorted, "I took mine twenty years ago, Harry! You should probably ask Ron."

Harry shook his head at his own stupidity. "Good point. No chance of a quiet day so I can actually get some study for this is there?" he asked hopefully.

Remus smiled, "you're in luck. We didn't have a party like last year planned. Just a little lunch ceremony with those that are here. What's the other letter you've got?"

"No idea. It's from Gringotts, but I haven't opened it yet." Harry said before breaking the seal on the back of the envelope.

_Mr. Harry J. Potter_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

_The Potter Family Vault:_

_As Financial Officer of Gringotts, it is my duty to inform you of the above mentioned vault. Enclosed you will find a key for it._

_You may or may not have been aware of this vault. Since you are now of age, the contents of it are rightfully yours as of today._

_All deeds of ownership have been transferred to your name and the applicable paperwork will also be stored in your current Gringotts vault._

_If you have any questions please refer them to me personally via return owl._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Thrall Gromscream_

_Elder Financial Officer_

_Gringotts Wizarding Bank_

Harry looked up from reading the letter. Remus could sense that something was troubling him and was about to ask when Harry gave him the letter. Remus let his eyes scan the piece of parchment before looking back up at Harry.

"I…I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't know anything about this. James never once mentioned it to me."

Harry nodded before speaking, "if it's anything like my current vault, it'll be rather shocking the first time I see it. Now might be a good time to move Trent's stuff into my vault as well."

Harry finished his note to the National Wizarding Bank of Australia about transferring the contents of Trent's vault into Harry's. He also put in the phrase 'the dingo is dead', although Harry didn't know how this would help the process like Trent said it would.

Once this was done, he then asked Remus when they'd be able to go to Gringotts and see this new vault. Remus suggested after he'd taken his apparition exam and after he'd heard back from Mike. Harry reluctantly agreed as he wasn't scheduled to take his exam until the next morning. Remus told him he didn't know how long it would take to transfer everything over from Trent's vault, but it would most likely be at least two weeks.

Harry then asked him how the letter arrived here if it had been addressed to Privet Drive. Remus told him that the wards around the mansion allowed certain post to reach them, like those from the Ministry, despite the mansion being unplottable.

* * *

Lunch was a delicious affair, with Mrs. Weasley once again whipping up a storm in the kitchen. Even the Dursleys had been impressed by her cooking, and Harry noticed that both Dudley and his Uncle were giving Ron a run for his money by helping themselves to thirds. Ron told Harry that the exam was easy, particularly as Trent had taught them what to do at the start of the year.

After dinner, Harry opened his presents. He had received books on dark creatures from the Weasleys, but Harry privately thought he wouldn't find anything of use in any of them. Hermione also got him a book, but it was about wandless magic, which Harry found fascinating particularly as now he was able to do some himself.

Remus had given him more photos of his parents, which Harry thanked him for. Hagrid had sent him a letter, saying that when he came back to Hogwarts, he had a nice surprise waiting for him. Harry could only hope and pray it wasn't anything with sharp teeth or claws.

Harry headed upstairs to his room to brush up on apparition, when Remus came in.

"Harry, have you sent that letter off to Mike yet?"

"No, I'm having a little trouble addressing it actually. Where is this place again?" Harry answered.

Remus put his head in his hands. "We've been over this, Harry. The bank is located in the wizard part of Sydney. How hard could it be to find?"

"Actually Professor Lupin, it might be quite difficult. Sydney is Australia's largest city, and is home to about four million people." Hermione added as she and Ron came in to help Harry with his study. Harry got a smug look on his face after Hermione said that.

Remus looked startled. "Oh, I didn't know that. You sure you can't just sense where it is Harry?"

"Yes Remus, I'm sure. I can't sense things _that_ far away. Besides even if I could, I wouldn't recognise anyone's aura. But Hedwig should still be able to find it, shouldn't you girl?"

The snowy owl looked at Harry before hooting rather indignantly at him.

"Sorry girl. I didn't mean to put it like that. I just don't want you to get hurt again, that's all." Harry apologised profusely.

"But Harry, it'd take weeks for Hedwig to get there and back. You do realise that Australia is halfway around the world don't you" Hermione chided him.

"Yes Hermione, I know where it is. But what other way is there to deliver a letter?"

"Phoenix post is the fastest way" Remus said.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I have no idea what that is. And even if I did, the only person who I know that had a phoenix was Dumbledore. I wonder what happened to Fawkes anyway" he mused.

Remus stifled a laugh. "That's quite a funny story, Harry. You see, once their owners move on, phoenixes must choose a new owner…"

"Oh Merlin, please don't tell me he's picked me. Why does everything happen to…"

"It would make sense though, Harry. You and Fawkes do have a certain…affinity with each other. Remember the Chamber in second year?" Hermione reminded him.

"How could I forget! It's just…"

"You want to be normal. We know, Harry. Anyway, Fawkes didn't pick you so don't worry." Remus answered.

Harry looked a little relieved and waited for Remus to continue. When he didn't, Harry spoke up

"Well then. Who did Fawkes choose as his new owner, Remus?"

The older man smiled at Harry before responding "me actually. For reasons I don't know why. Phoenixes only choose owners who are pure in the light, like they themselves are. I'm a dark creature so I hardly fit into that category..."

"But not anymore. Remember what Trent said about…"

"Even though I don't have to go through the pain anymore, I am still a werewolf, Harry." Remus reminded him.

Hermione and Ron looked quizzically at the duo before Hermione asked "what are you talking about not having to go through the pain anymore?"

"He's been cured, Hermione. Trent found a way to enable Remus to keep his human form every full moon."

Remus and Harry then retold the story Trent had told them in the Spirit Room. How the parasite kept the wolf at bay, but that Remus still had his heightened senses and strength. And that it only works for Remus because he's fully accepted what he was, and is pure at heart. Harry's friends looked stunned throughout, and neither could speak once Harry and Remus were finished.

"Well, now that's cleared up. I guess I'll allow you to use Fawkes to deliver your message, Harry."

"How does phoenix post work?" Harry asked.

"It's similar to floo and apparition I'm told. The phoenix leaves in a flash of fire, then returns moments later. Unless you tell it to wait for a response, which might be a good idea in this case. I'll call…"

Harry could hear the familiar sound of phoenix song ringing through the house and glanced over at Remus.

"Looks like he found us first, Remus."

Fawkes arrived and landed on Remus' shoulder before looking at Harry.

"Er, now what happens? How do I give the letter to him?"

No sooner had he said this, Fawkes flew over to Harry and grabbed the letter out of his hands, before heading back to perch on Remus' shoulder once again.

"Does that answer your question Harry?" Remus chuckled, and Harry could only nod in silence.

"Alright Fawkes. Harry here would like you to deliver that letter to Mike Knight. He lives in Sydney Australia, and would you kindly wait until Mike has written his response so you can bring it back please?" Remus asked the magnificent creature sitting on his shoulder.

Fawkes shrilled once, before vanishing in a bright red flame.


	7. Chapter 7 – Reunited At Last

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Harry's not only going to take his Apparition exam the next day either! He's in for quite a shock!

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Reunited At Last**

"Well Harry, how'd it go?" Remus asked as Harry came out of the Ministry after his Apparition exam.

"Pretty good. Ron didn't tell me that you have to choose your location out of a hat though." Harry replied.

Remus grinned, "I remember having to do that. I was lucky though, I only had to apparate to Hogsmeade and back. Your father had to go to Ireland."

"That's still closer than mine was," Harry grumbled.

"Why, where'd you end up going?" Remus quizzed him.

"Japan! I had to ruddy cross the European checkpoint in Bulgaria first!" Harry exclaimed.

"Y…yo…you're joking!" Remus spluttered.

"No I'm ruddy well not! I'm glad my instructor came with me to explain what was going on, or I wouldn't have been allowed through."

"So you passed then?"

Harry nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Of course, here's my license. Glad they got my name right."

"Ah, Harry, I'm pretty sure _everyone_ knows how to spell your name. But Japan! That's miles away!"

"Oh really Remus, I thought it was just next door" Harry replied while rolling his eyes.

"Alright, no need to get touchy. You ready to go to Gringotts?" the older wizard answered.

Harry shook his head. "No, I want to take my learners test first."

Remus looked puzzled so Harry explained. "I want to get my driver's license, Remus. We'll have to go to the Department for Transport so I can take my test. It's quite close by, so don't worry."

"You didn't tell me you wanted to get your driver's license. I didn't even know you were studying for it."

"Well, it's not that hard really. Trent taught me loads about driving it so it should be a piece of cake."

"But Trent never was one for following rules, Harry. I'm sure driving has some very…"

"Strict rules. I know, Remus. I have read up on the road regulations. I did that over Christmas when Trent was teaching me more about driving."

"Oh, well I guess we might as well get going then."

Harry nodded and the two of them walked off to the Department for Transport.

* * *

Remus sat inside and waited for Harry to finish his learner's test. He looked around the room, and if he really concentrated, he could almost picture sitting in the same building twenty years earlier as Sirius sat for his motorcycle test. He briefly wondered what happened to that bike before closing his eyes.

Remus sighed as he remembered how carefree those days were; James, Lily, Sirius, Peter and himself. If Dumbledore had have told them twenty years ago that only Remus would see James' son finish his sixth year at Hogwarts, they all would have laughed and called the former Headmaster an old coot. Harry brought him out of his thoughts

"Er, Remus? Are you ready to go?"

His eyes shot open and he stood up so quickly that he nearly lost his balance.

"Oh, Harry! Sorry, I must have dozed off for a bit. How did it go?"

Harry smiled and nodded, "nailed it. Two licenses in the same day, not a bad effort!"

Remus smiled at him and for a brief moment lost himself in realising exactly how much like his parents Harry really was. They then made their way to Gringotts to check Harry's new vault.

* * *

Once again Griphook led Harry and Remus into the depths of Gringotts. Harry had never visited this part of the bank before, and was wondering exactly where the Potter family vault was. He'd heard stories from Hargid about Gringotts being home to a dragon, and secretly hoped he'd never find out whether it was true.

They came to a stop after what felt like hours, and Griphook got out of the cart before moving over to where a dusty, dirty door that Harry could only barely make out.

"Lamp please"

Remus handed the lamp over, before Harry also withdrew the key.

"Key please"

Harry gave the key to the goblin before both he and Remus climbed out.

Griphook unlocked the door but nothing happened. Harry had a look of disappointment on his face when Griphook spoke up

"Mr. Potter. Would you please place your hand over the keyhole?"

Harry did as he was asked, and the door clicked. The three of them moved out of the way as the door opened outwards. When it was fully opened, they stood in shock, even Griphook was stunned.

Inside were piles of golden galleons that stretched up as far as Harry could see. They were numerous stacks of sickles and knuts, but nowhere near as many as the galleons. Harry spotted several pieces of furniture and portraits, as well as some muggle weapons towards the back of the vault. He also found a few documents detailing property ownership.

"Er…!" was all Harry managed to say.

"I believe your right, Harry. 'Er' indeed!" Remus uttered in amazement.

They made their way inside, and Harry found a door at the back. He asked Griphook if he knew why it was there, and he replied that it was the second chamber of the vault.

"You mean there's more?"

Griphook nodded and Harry asked if it was all right to open the door. Griphook nodded again and the door swung open after Harry placed his hand on it. Remus and Harry walked through into the new room and found it mostly empty. Harry was somewhat relieved as he wasn't sure if he could take any more surprises for one day.

"I wonder why James never mentioned this vault. It's even more impressive than Sirius' ever was."

"Oh Merlin! Moony, is that you?" a new voice cut through the air.

Harry and Remus both turned towards the place where the voice had come from. Remus' eyes went wide in recognition before finding his voice

"J…James?"

Harry looked at where the voice had come from and found himself staring at a portrait. His mouth fell open in shock as he saw a man with glasses and hair nearly exactly like his. Not only could he see his father, but four other people were in the portrait as well. One had long red hair and brilliant green eyes. Another had light brown hair and brown eyes. The fourth person had medium length black hair and a cheeky grin, while the final occupant was a short blond-haired man.

"Dad! Mum! Remus! Sirius! Peter! Why didn't you ever tell me about this, Remus?" Harry remarked.

"Merlin Prongs! He looks exactly like you!" the younger Sirius said.

"No kidding, Padfoot. I would like to know why he looks around our age though. How old are you Harry?" his father asked.

Harry looked over at Remus awaiting an explanation. He didn't have to wait long as Remus ran his hand through his greying hair.

"I wondered what happened to this. Harry, this portrait was made shortly after you were born. You know that empty frame above the fireplace?" Harry nodded and Remus continued

"I always wanted to put this portrait there. But after I couldn't find it in Sirius' things, I just assumed it must have been destroyed when…oh my! I shouldn't have said that!" Remus exclaimed as he saw the shocked look on the faces of everyone in the portrait.

"Go on, Moony. When what got destroyed?" the portrait Sirius gently inquired.

Remus and Harry shared a look before Remus turned back to the portrait.

"Um…things are a little different nowadays. You see…well…ah...Harry, feel free to jump in anytime."

"Maybe we should take the portrait back home first, Remus, and explain everything there" Harry suggested.

Remus shook his head, "no, I think it would be best to give them a rundown about what's happened in the last seventeen years, Harry."

"So you're seventeen! That would explain why you're only here now…"

"Be quiet James! Obviously something horrible has happ…"

"You always say that, Moony. What's your reasoning behind it this time?" Sirius interrupted the younger Remus.

"For Merlin's sake Sirius, isn't it obvious! Why else would Harry look so shocked at seeing us if we were still alive. Is that what happened, did we…move on?" Lily asked.

Remus nodded, "Halloween 1981. You and James were murdered by Voldemort."

"The prophecy!" James exclaimed.

"Wait, you mean you knew about the prophecy?" Harry asked, quite shocked.

Both James and Lily nodded before Lily answered "probably not all of it. Albus told us that we were in danger and should go into hiding. Harry's right, Remus, you really should tell us about everything elsewhere."

"We could go to Grimmauld Place, Remus. That way we can get everything out of there in case Voldemort…" Harry began to suggest.

"You mean he's still around! Well, that's just great. I mean, seventeen years and no one's been able to kill him yet, why doesn't Dumbledore hurry up and kill him already!" Sirius cut in.

Harry and Remus shared a look. "I think I know what you have in mind, Harry. You want to go there to pick up all the remaining items we've got there. But the wards…"

"Shouldn't be a problem. Remember what Trent taught me last year, Remus" Harry reminded him.

"Which bit?" Remus asked with a glare. "Alright, Grimmauld Place it is. We'll apparate once we get outside. Hold on you guys, I'm just going to shrink you to make it easier to..."

"Hey! Hang on a second Moony! You'll crush my wonderful face!"

"Oh, you are so _full_ of yourself, Padfoot. Remember _I'm_ the one that got married, not you!"

"A silencing charm wouldn't go astray either" Harry casually remarked.

Remus chuckled and raised his wand. "I totally agree, Harry. Silencio!"

Sirius and James continued to argue in silence, while Remus shrunk the portrait. He and Harry then left the vault after Harry withdrew some money, and Griphook took them back to the main entrance. As the two wizards walked outside, Remus grabbed onto Harry and the two of them vanished to Grimmauld Place in a flash of orange light.


	8. Chapter 8 – Lover’s Tiff And Yet More Su...

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I was going to cut that chapter off when Remus recognises James, but decided against it in the end…I didn't want to be _that_ cruel!

Oh, have been going through and making slight changes to Dormant (after seeing some big errors!). Will probably finish updating it this weekend, I hope. My prequel is now official...have written the first 2 chapters!

Yes I do know I said in…chapter 29 of Dormant I think, that I wouldn't miraculously bring anyone back to life. And I don't think I have. I believe that the since James never informed anyone of the Potter vault, and that Remus explained that the portrait was done when they were 21 is enough evidence that I didn't do that. Plus the fact that Remus thought it to have been destroyed…something good has to happen to Harry…eventually! Also, loads of other stories have something similar anyway.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Lover's Tiff And Yet More Surprises**

Three hours later, Remus and Harry had finished explaining everything that had happened in the last seventeen years. From that Halloween night, right up to the events that unfolded just over a month ago. Harry even told them about the full prophecy. All five of the young adults looked at Harry in shock.

"You mean you had to grow up with Petunia and Vernon!" Lily exclaimed with a look of horror on her face.

"You've beaten Voldemort six times! And you're the _only_ one who can beat him for good?" James remarked, his eyes wide in shock.

"I spent twelve years in Azkaban because they thought _I_ betrayed my best friends! Wormtail, if you weren't already dead, I'd kill you myself right now!"

"Hey, calm down, Sirius! I'm still trying to get over the fact that I _did_ betray my best friends!"

"Wow, you mean to say that I've been cured! Actually, Sirius makes a fair point. If me and Peter were the only ones alive last year, why didn't you…that is to say me…um…what happened to the Marauder's oath?"

"Yeah Moony. How come you didn't kill Wormtail last year?" James asked.

The older Remus sighed before answering. "We, Sirius and myself, could have done it together during Harry's third year. You broke out of Azkaban to come after Peter, but everyone thought you were after Harry…"

"Why would I go after Harry for?"

It was Harry who answered. "Because everyone thought you had betrayed my parents, Sirius. Peter was thought to have been killed by you the day after they were murdered. All you kept saying for a month before you escaped was 'he's at Hogwarts'. What else were people supposed to think?"

Sirius still looked confused. "Then why didn't we kill the little rat?"

"Hey, I resent that!" Peter retorted.

Remus sighed again before responding, "Harry asked us to spare him, Sirius. We were going to take him to the Dementors, but…well, let's just say things didn't go as planned, did they, Harry."

"That's putting it rather bluntly, Remus" Harry coughed before asking, "what's the Marauder's oath?"

"Before we left Hogwarts, the four of us made a pact. If one of us betrayed another like that, he then was to be killed by the rest" Sirius replied.

"I never knew about that! James you prat, I hope that wasn't your idea!" Lily said.

James' eyes widened before answering "no! Of course it wasn't, Lily! You know how much I changed over the last two years at Hog…"

"Right, sure, whatever you say, James" Lily remarked, glaring daggers at her husband.

"So, ah Harry. Why did you ask Remus and Sirius to…well, not kill me?"

"I just didn't think my Dad would have wanted his two best friends to become murderers. They didn't mention anything about an oath though…"

"Because deep down, we knew you were right. Sirius and I often talked about that night, your Patronus particularly" Remus interrupted.

"Yeah Harry. You'll have to show us what a brilliant job I did of teaching you!" the younger Remus remarked.

"Well, you always were hiding yourself away in the library" Peter said.

"I was NOT hiding. I just happened to like reading, that's all" the portrait Remus snapped back.

"Well, it was because of your _reading_ that we were able to come up with the map. I'm impressed that those twins you mentioned were able to figure out how to work it."

The older Remus smiled, "Fred and George would have given you and James a run for your money Sirius, trust me."

James snorted, "I doubt it, Moony. From what Harry told us, it seems they _idolised_ us! It was very noble of you to confiscate it from Harry and old Snivellus though."

"James Potter! I thought I told you to _never_ call him that again!"

"See what you're missing out on, Harry. Are you sure you miss them _that_ much?" Sirius asked, amusement written all over his face. It was soon wiped off though by Lily's response,

"Sirius Black! How dare you speak to my son like that! Of course he misses us" Lily turned to Harry and her eyes softened, "don't you, Harry."

Harry nodded his head vigorously. If there was one thing he knew from being around Ron, it was never to get on the wrong side of Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, nice going, Lily. Now you've shocked _our_ son into silence. Well done!"

James and Lily continued to argue while Harry and Remus went around the house to see what was still there. Most of the furniture and books had already been relocated to Marauder's Mansion, and there were just a few portraits and cooking utensils that remained.

"Did they always act like that?" Harry asked.

Remus suppressed a laugh, "no. Only when James said or did something stupid. And he usually only did that when Sirius was around. Still can't sense anyone approaching, can you? We've been here for quite some time."

"No, I can't sense anyone nearby. We should be alright until we get back to the mansion. But you are right we should probably get going sooner rather than later."

Remus nodded in agreement before he and Harry went back to collect all the remaining items in Grimmauld Place, including the portrait of Lily and the Marauder's. Once they had done this, Harry and Remus apparated everything back to Godric's Hollow.

* * *

As soon as Harry and Remus arrived back at Marauder's Mansion, they got the distinct impression that something terrible had happened while they were away. A wave of uneasiness washed over them as the two of them walked into the kitchen. 

Remus entered first and stopped dead in his tracks. Harry wondered what was going on and tried to push past him, without success.

"Remus, I want to know what's happened. Move please!" Harry said a little impatiently, and shoved the older man through the door.

"Oh, Harry! Thank heavens you're alright! We heard about the attack in Diagon Alley this afternoon and you hadn't come back yet. We were…"

"Hang on, Hermione. What attack? When did this happen?" Harry asked.

"You mean you weren't there? I thought you went to Gringotts to check out your new vault?" Ron inquired.

Harry nodded, "we did. But we left about four hours ago. We've been at Grimmauld Place…"

"Potter. You know better than to go there. Trent knows where it is. You were lucky the two of you weren't atta…"

"Harry knows how to sense people, Alastor. We were careful, believe me" Remus replied, "just tell us what happened at Diagon Alley please."

Moody nodded and began talking in his usual gruff voice, "not much really. Around twenty or so Death Eaters showed up, most likely looking for Potter. When they couldn't locate him, they just began attacking. Fortunately the Ministry Aurors turned up soon after, but most of the Death Eaters escaped. We only managed to capture four of them."

"It would seem that You-Know-Who…"

"His name's Voldemort, Arthur" Remus interrupted.

"Or at least call him Tom. That is his real name" Harry added.

"You mean Tom Riddle is…" Ginny began, with a shocked look on her face.

"Voldemort. Yes he is, Ginny. Here let me show you" Harry replied, before demonstrating the same thing Tom Riddle showed him in the Chamber during his second year.

Harry wrote the name Tom Marvolo Riddle in the air, before rearranging the letters to read…

"I am Lord Voldemort! That's rather ingenious. How did you figure that out, Harry?" Remus asked.

Harry chuckled, "I didn't, Remus. He showed me himself during my second year."

"What's so funny, Hermione?" Ron asked when he saw her trying not to giggle.

"Nothing Ron, I'm just being silly. I was thinking how 'Marvolo' sounds like a washing detergent, that's all" she replied, and most of the room burst into laughter.

"That would explain why you called him that before you transformed in the pensieve" Bill said after the laughter had died down.

"You mean you showed them what happened that night! That's not fair Harry, why couldn't you have waited until we were there?" Tonks exclaimed.

"And what do you mean he showed you himself, Potter?" Moody asked.

Harry sighed, "why don't I just show everyone what happened at the end of each of my years at Hogwarts?" he asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Would you! That'd be amazing Harry, I really want to see…"

"Ah, I think Harry was joking, Hermione" Remus said.

"Oh" Hermione replied, looking somewhat disappointed.

"They aren't what you'd call pleasant memories, Hermione. Did anything else happen while we were out?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

Ron nodded, "yeah. Our letters arrived. Yours is upstairs on your bed. Word of warning though mate, you're in for a bit of a shock."

Harry looked quizzically at his best friend "why?"

"No Quidditch this year, Harry" Ginny answered.

Before Harry could ask, Ron answered his question "seems that now Dumbledore's gone, the Ministry don't think it's wise to let us fly around the pitch anymore" he said rather gloomily.

"They've got a point, Ron. But it won't help Harry's chances to be on the National team" Hermione replied.

"Why couldn't they have sent the letters yesterday? We could've picked up everyone's books while we were…" Harry began.

"You don't have to. They sent everyone's new books out with the letters. We've only got the level seven spells book anyway. Well, you might have a Wandless magic one I guess."

"No I don't think so, Ron. We only just barely got halfway through the old one. You three obviously still prefects then?" Harry answered.

Ron rolled his eyes while Hermione rocked on her heels in excitement, "me and Ginny are. Hermione's not though…"

"What? How'd that happen?" Harry interrupted.

"I made Head Girl, Harry!" she almost squealed in delight.

"Oh, right. Congratulations! I totally forgot about that. Do you know who Head Boy is?"

Hermione shook her head, "no. But I'll find out on the Express during the meeting we're supposed to have."

Harry nodded before heading upstairs to open his letter. As he walked up the stairs, he saw Remus walking out of the kitchen. Harry guessed Remus wanted to put the portrait up in the empty frame above the fireplace as soon as possible. He inwardly grinned as he wondered what Snape's reaction would be once he saw the portrait.

Harry walked into his bedroom and found the letter on his bed just as Ron said. He also found his new book which had been placed on his desk. Harry opened the letter and sighed as he saw the familiar writing of Professor McGonagall, only this time there was no 'Deputy' in front of the word 'Headmistress' at the bottom.

He also spotted a badge in the envelope. Normally, Harry wouldn't have been the slightest bit curious as he had been Gryffindor Quidditch captain last year, but that was before Ginny told him that there was no Quidditch this upcoming year, which the letter confirmed. Harry turned the badge over and his eyes bulged in surprise. The letters 'HB' were clearly visible, engraved in an embossed Hogwarts crest.

'Head Boy? Me? I wonder why…' Harry was shaken from his thoughts by someone yelling. It soon became obvious who it was, and what had happened.

"JAMES POTTER! HOW _DARE_ YOU! HOW COULD YOU HAVE THE…THE _AUDACITY_ TO FLIRT WITH SOMEONE WHEN YOUR OWN _WIFE_ IS STANDING IN THE SAME PORTRAIT, NOT THREE FEET AWAY FROM YOU!"

For a fleeting moment, Harry pondered whether he actually _did_ want to have a normal family life.


	9. Chapter 9 – Wizarding…Down Under Style

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Heh, I enjoyed writing Lily's rant at her husband! I reckon James is just a big kid at heart, and that Lily keeps him in line…except when Sirius is around!

Never fear, golden…Harry does get involved in a couple fights later on, trust me! Let me know when your story is posted too!

Tonks? Tuxedo, what are you on! James likes redheads! Actually, I totally forgot about Tonks (whoops!), but the first little bit of this chapter would not make a lot of sense if I changed it.

I have finished updating Dormant Power too. Not sure exactly when the changes will kick in though...

Oh, and yes, in this chapter Harry does go to Aussie. Well I had to let him really, didn't I! The people he meets aren't vital later on. I just needed some names to put to a few of them. Also, I think this chapter is the longest in the story.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Wizarding…Down Under Style**

As Harry stepped out of his room, he nearly ran into Dudley.

"What was all that about?" he asked Harry.

Harry smiled, "that was just my Mum. Magical portraits move around and talk, unlike the ones you're used to. They can be quite hilarious sometimes" he replied, and Dudley's eyes widened.

"You mean…you…that was your Mum shouting?"

"Yeah. She's a redhead, and, I've been told, has a wicked temper. Obviously my Dad must have made a pass at someone."

"Yes, at my little sister no less!" Ron answered as he came bounding up the stairs doing his best not to laugh.

"Your Dad's here too!" Dudley asked, his voice still one of shock.

Harry nodded. "All of them are. Mum, Dad, Remus, Sirius and Peter. You've met Remus before, he's the guy that burnt that piece of parchment the day we arrived here. Sirius was my Godfather, and Peter was the other friend of my Dad's."

"You know, Harry. I reckon your Mum might have challenged mine in the yelling department!" Ron grinned.

"Maybe we'll get the chance to find out. After all, this is technically their place" Harry reminded his friend.

Ron nodded before heading to his room. Dudley also turned back to go to his room, while Harry went downstairs to check out the portrait again. When he got into the living room, he wasn't surprised to see Sirius, Peter and both Remus' all with tears in their eyes from laughing too much. He also saw the rather shocked looks on everyone else's faces, particularly Ginny.

"Don't worry, Ginny, I highly doubt my Dad will try that again. You might want to watch out for Sirius though" Harry mused.

"Hey, that's not fair, Harry!" his Godfather pouted before suddenly saying, "you need a nickname."

"Good idea, Sirius. We've all got one, so it's only fair that James' son has one too" Peter added.

Sirius, Peter and the portrait Remus all looked thoughtful, while Lily was still berating James for earlier. Suddenly Sirius snapped his fingers

"I've got it! Your new name is Pronglet. You're the son of Prongs, plus your Patronus is him. Am I brilliant or what! Don't answer that, Moony!"

Harry grimaced as Sirius said this, 'Pronglet? What kind of rubbish name is that?' He was about to reply when the older Remus beat him.

"I'm not sure if Harry needs a nickname, Sirius. He's already got one, don't you Harry."

Harry looked over at the older wizard with a look of confusion on his face.

Remus sighed before answering, "you're already called the 'boy-who-lived' aren't you."

"I hate being called that! That's nearly as bad as everyone calling Voldemort, You-Know-Who. Actually, Trent had the right idea now that I think of it" Harry replied.

"Ah yes. He-Whose-Name-Must-Be-Hyphenated. That was rather brilliant, quite right Harry" Remus agreed.

"You mean someone finally mocked him! About ruddy time!" Sirius remarked.

"Sirius Black! Watch your language!" both Lily and Mrs. Weasley said at the same time, and then both of them blushed slightly as the others laughed.

"So guys, how do you like what Remus has done to the place?" Harry asked.

"I think it's glorious" James said

"Simply magnificent" Remus added

"Absolutely spiffing" Sirius continued

"Amazing choice of décor. Is that a new shirt, Remus?" Peter finished.

Lily just shook her head before answering, "I think you've done a wonderful job Remus…"

"Thanks Lily!" the younger Remus interrupted.

"Not you, you prat! I meant your older counterpart. Mind you, we haven't been able to see the rest of the place yet."

The older Remus stifled a yawn, "thank you Lily, except for the 'older' bit. Anyway, I'm feeling a bit tired after today. I might go and get some sleep."

"I agree Remus. It has been a very interesting day to say the least" Harry said before heading off to bed himself.

* * *

The next day passed quickly, with Harry and his friends telling the portrait about some of their adventures at Hogwarts. James had looked immensely proud when Harry told him that he had captained the Quidditch team to the cup last year, and was due to go to the English training camp next week. All of them were shocked when he told them the circumstances of what had happened a little under two months ago at Riddle Manor.

Dinner came and went and soon it was nearly nine in the evening. Harry hadn't yet heard back from Mike Knight about Trent's vault, and he was starting to wonder if anything had happened to Fawkes. No sooner had he thought this, a bright red flame appeared in the living room, and the sound of phoenix song filled the air.

"About time you came back. Was Mike a bit shocked to see you was he? I certainly would be if a phoenix turned up in my office with a letter telling me one of my best friends had died" Remus said.

Fawkes flew over to Harry and dropped the letter in his lap, before perching himself on Remus' shoulder.

Harry grabbed the letter and ripped it open. Mike Knight had written back and requested a meeting with Harry at four o'clock, Sydney time, on the third of August. He had also enclosed directions to get to the bank. Harry was a little surprised as he realised that the meeting was due to take place the next day. But he wasn't prepared for what Hermione said.

"Harry, you do realise that the East Coast of Australia is half a day ahead of us in terms of time, don't you? What is nine in the evening for us, is nine the next morning for them."

"Oh" was all Harry could say before racing up the stairs to get changed.

* * *

He knew it would take him a while to get clearance to enter Australia through the Apparition posts. He had to go the checkpoints in Eastern Europe, then Asia before being allowed to enter Australia.

Ron had also reminded him that he better take some money for the trip. Harry had asked why, and Ron told him that the European checkpoint will require a departure tax. It and the American ones were the only checkpoints in the wizarding world that required a tax to be paid. Ron also pleaded with Harry to bring gifts back for them from Australia which Harry agreed to.

Harry had to produce his Apparition licence at each post before being allowed to continue. The process was made more difficult as the European checkpoint, located in Bulgaria, had changed their rules slightly now that Voldemort was confirmed as being back. They were under orders to allow no one, no matter how well known they were, out of the continent unless they had proper permission.

Luckily for Harry, he had remembered to pack Mike's letter. After the guards checked its authenticity and Harry paid the departure tax of five galleons, he was allowed to leave Europe bound for Australia. The checkpoints in China and Australia were much easier to pass through, and Harry found himself in Sydney by one o'clock in the afternoon.

He opened Mike's letter and read it over again

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_Firstly let me share my condolences on the demise of my good friend Trent Fuller. We were the best of mates during our time at Wattles, and when your letter arrived a couple of weeks ago, I was deeply upset._

_But I daresay that Trent would want us to stop wallowing about his departure, and get on with our lives. Since you're a Pom, I have enclosed a map to allow you to navigate through the magical part of Sydney. Once you get out of the Apparition customs, you will need to find an old pub called 'The Redback Inn'. It's located along Charlotte Street, and is quite close to the Apparition office._

_I would like to request a meeting with you in person on August 3, at four in the afternoon, Sydney time._

_Kind regards,_

_Mike Knight_

_Manager of the National Wizarding Bank of Australia_

Harry quickly found Charlotte Street, and walked along it until he found 'The Redback Inn'. He was reminded of the first time he saw the Leaky Cauldron. The outside of the Inn was badly run down, and Harry felt that the whole place could do with a major facelift. However, as at the Leaky Cauldron some seven years ago, Harry again got the distinct feeling that only he could actually see the pub. He shrugged the feeling off, and looked around to make sure no one would see him enter the building. Harry opened the door and walked inside.

Harry was surprised that the place was practically empty, but reminded himself that it was only one-thirty in the afternoon, and that most people had finished lunch and were back at work. The bartender stopped wiping a glass and looked up at Harry as he approached the bar.

"G'day mate. What can I get ya this fine day?"

Harry blinked. "Er, sorry. What did you say?"

The man smiled, "ah, you're a Brit then. Forgive me. We ain't used to getting overseas visitors that often. How can I help you, young sir?"

"Oh, right. Well, I was kind of hoping to find a Mr. Mike Knight. Do you know where the bank is?"

The man nodded. "So you must be Mr. Potter then. Mike informed me I might see you around. Horrible business with what happened to old dingo…"

"You knew Trent!" Harry interrupted.

"That I did. I was part of his little trio at Wattles. This pub has been through three generations of my family, so I just decided to continue the tradition. My name's John, John Crighton. My nickname was JC. Not very original I'll admit. Rumour has it you have a knack for getting into trouble as well."

"Well, that's not entirely fair. Trouble normally has a way of finding me" Harry replied, while John chuckled.

"I see. That was always our excuse too. Now sorry for keeping you waiting, but as you can see, it's not exactly busy right now. If you walk through the closed toilet cubicle out the back, you'll find your way into Outback Junction. That's what we call our magical town. Enjoy your stay in Sydney, Mr. Potter."

John then turned and went back to cleaning the bar, while Harry bade him farewell and made his way to the toilet that John mentioned. He walked in and found it was just like a normal lavatory, but without the toilet bowl. Harry looked a bit confused, as John didn't mention if he had to do something to open the gateway.

He was about to go back inside and ask, when he wondered if the back wall was like the platform at Kings Cross. Harry reached his hand out to brush the wall, and found his hand penetrating the wall. Harry then stood back and walked through the wall into Outback Junction.

* * *

As Harry looked around, he couldn't help but feel like he was home. There was a Cauldron shop, a bookshop, a place to purchase magical animals, another for robes, and there were even two Quidditch supplies shop. Harry found a magical artefacts shop, and decided to have a look around as he had a bit of time before his meeting with Mike. He hadn't bothered with buying a watch since his old one had been ruined during the second task of the triwizard tournament.

"Can I help you young man?"

Harry whirled around and saw who he assumed to be an assistant.

"I'm just looking for a new watch. My old one got a bit…er wet."

The woman nodded "right then. We got many types of watches. Magical ones, muggle ones, even some gag ones too. What do you mainly want it for?"

"Er, to tell the time" Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The woman nodded again "just had to ask. We got watches that don't do that at all. Merlin, we even got some that can apparate you and one other to anywhere you want!"

Harry looked immediately interested. "How many times can they be used? Do they tell the time?"

"Yeah they can tell time. The apparition can only be used once before it needs to be recharged. The latest models can store up to six locations and can break through any wards. But you didn't hear that from me of course" the woman smiled.

Harry smiled back, "no I didn't. I think I read it in the manual. How much is one of the new models? Oh, it doesn't matter, I'll have to change my money over anyway."

"We accept most currency Mr…?"

"Potter. Harry Potter."

The woman gasped as Harry said this.

"Re…really! I'm terribly sorry Mr. Potter for not recognising you straight away! I'm Michelle. In fact, if you make up a name, I reckon you'd be able to just walk around here without the attention you're probably used to."

Harry looked stunned. "Oh. Ok then. My _real_ name is Ron Weasley. How much is one of those watches?"

Michelle smiled "well Mr. _Weasley_, the latest model with the apparition option is…let me check the transfer rates."

She dashed behind the front desk and opened a book. Once Michelle found what the exchange rate was, she looked up at Harry.

"Right then. Normally it would cost you two thousand dollars, or one hundred and eighty-seven galleons and thirteen sickels."

Harry looked highly disappointed, he didn't have anywhere near that much with him.

"But for you sir, I reckon I might be able to let you have one for half that."

Harry was still disappointed. "I don't have that much on me right now. Could you tell me where the bank is please?"

Michelle nodded "certainly. Go out the door and head left. Don't take any alleyways and after five minutes or so, you should by at the front door of the National Bank."

Harry thanked her and made to exit the store when Michelle smiled.

"I'll keep these for you if you'd like to return and purchase one later. Have a nice day Mr. Weasley."

Harry thanked Michelle again, and left to go to the bank. He found that Michelle was right. No one paid Harry any attention, even when he got bumped and fell onto the ground. The man apologised and helped Harry up before heading on his way again, not even taking a second glance at the person he'd just knocked over.

He came to the front doors of the National Wizarding Bank. Harry thought it looked just like any normal muggle bank. The building itself was of brick construction, and four storeys in height. A large clock was located out the front, which told Harry that it was three-thirty. There was no sign of the goblins that guard Gringotts, and Harry knew enough from Trent to realise that Australians were much more laid back and casual than other magical communities.

He stepped through the doors and instantly retracted his last statement. If the outside was nothing like Gringotts, the interior could have been directly copied from it. Harry found himself in a massive marble hall. Instead of goblins being behind the desks, wizards and witches were, scribbling away in large ledgers and weighing coins on scales. Many numbered doors lead off the hall, with more wizards and witches showing people in and out of them. Harry made his way to one of the free wizards behind the counter.

"Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?"

"I have an appointment with Mr. Knight at four o'clock."

The wizard nodded and checked a book which Harry guessed was one that noted appointments.

"Very well Mr. Porter. If you would like to take a seat over there, Mr. Knight will be with you soon."

Harry thanked the man and walked over to the seats where he had pointed to. Harry briefly wondered why Mike would put his name down as Harry Porter, but didn't have time to think about it more when a voice was heard.

"Mr. Harold Porter. Would you please make your way to room number seven. Mr. Knight is waiting for you. Thank you."

Harry looked around before he realised that they were referring to him. He shot out of his chair and hurried over to the door marked with the number seven. A witch opened the door, and beckoned for Harry to enter, which he did.

The door closed, and the man sitting behind the desk looked up. He had light brown hair, and reminded Harry a little of Remus until the man stood up. Unlike Remus, he wore a black trench coat, much like Trent did when he first arrived at Grimmauld Place last year.

"Harry Potter. What a pleasure it is to see you in person" he held out his hand to shake Harry's, who returned the gesture.

"My name's Mike, as you've probably already guessed. I used a false name for you as Trent told me how you don't really like attention, so I thought I'd help you out a little. Please take a seat, we have a lot to discuss."

Harry sat down and the two of them began to talk about how best to move all of Trent's possessions to Harry's vault.

* * *

Around half an hour later, Mike stood up. "Alright Mr. Potter, everything has been changed over to your name. Was there anything else?"

Harry thought about the watch he had seen, "yes actually. I was wondering if I could take out some money so I can buy a few things."

"No worries. You can just use some of Trent's, that way you won't even have to exchange it. How much do you need?"

"Er, I'm not sure. I've seen a watch I wouldn't mind, plus I wouldn't mind visiting the Quidditch shops. Why do you have two?"

Mike laughed before answering, "you ain't the first visitor to ask that, believe me! Our National team ain't what you'd consider competitive. Yes we have our own league, but our players are nowhere near as good as you Europeans. We always get knocked out in the group stages…if we even get _that_ far. The shops are all full of merchandise. I think there's even leftover things from the last World Cup."

"Is the stuff expensive? My friend is a huge Quidditch fan, and I promised him I'd bring something back for him."

"Well, due to exchange rates, it probably works out to be around the same price. We use the same currency as the muggles, much less confusing that way. One galleon is around ten Aussie dollars from memory. We've got a new system when it comes to buying things. Here take this" Mike said and handed Harry a pouch.

"What is it?"

"A money pouch. Once you set it to your account, it'll activate. After that happens, you can walk into any shop you want, and purchase anything you like. All you have to do is think about how much you want, and if your account is large enough that exact amount will appear in the pouch."

"But, won't it come out in galleons?"

Mike shook his head, "nope. The designer thought about that too. It's got a region sensor on it. It knows which country you're in, and adjusts to the latest exchange rates."

Harry looked impressed. "That's brilliant. So it kind of works like a muggle credit card then?"

"More like a debit card, EFTPOS. This uses the money from your account, whereas a credit card does not. The shops will be open until nine this evening, so might I suggest you start. Unless you'd like to stay the night? I'm sure John will have room in the pub for you."

Harry shook his head, "no, I think I'd better head back as soon as I've finished. I've got to get ready for my training camp when I get back."

"Ah yes. The Pommie Quidditch team. Trent told me you've been invited to try out. You might like some of our new World Cup items then" Mike smirked, as he led Harry out of his office.

* * *

Harry walked through Outback Junction, looking for presents to buy his friends. Mike had charmed the pouch for Harry, and he'd bought the Weasleys their presents. Harry didn't know exactly what Mike had meant with his final comment about the World Cup items, but quickly found out when he entered one of the shops.

Along the back wall, the shop had replica robes of every country to participate in the next World Cup, even those who had missed out on the group stages. The owner of the shop had told Harry, that for an extra twenty Australian dollars, he could have his name put on the back.

Harry bought eight English ones, and had the names A. Weasley, M. Weasley, W. Weasley, C. Weasley, F. Weasley, Ge. Weasley, R. Weasley and Gi. Weasley emblazoned on the back. The owner gave Harry a bottomless featherweight bag to put his purchases in, as Harry was having trouble trying to carry all of them at once.

He then went back to the artefacts shop and purchased one of the apparition watches. He wasn't surprised to see that Michelle was still there, and she kept her word by giving the watch to Harry at half price. Harry told Michelle not to worry about wrapping it, as he intended to wear it straight away.

Harry found the bookshop, and went inside to see if there was anything he could buy Hermione and Remus. He quickly found an Australian magical beasts book, which he bought for Hermione. He also spotted a book detailing the relationships between werewolves and animagi that he purchased for Remus.

Finally, Harry exited the book shop, and noted that it was getting onto nine in the evening. He hurried towards The Redback Inn, waved goodbye to John at the bar, before making his way back to the apparition office.

The trip back home was similar to before. Again, Harry was stopped at Bulgaria, and only allowed access once he showed them his license and had paid the tax. He apparated back to Marauder's Mansion, and heard a scream.

"Harry! Don't do that! You frightened me half to death!"

"Sorry, Ginny. Have I told you how much I prefer apparating to floo before?" Harry remarked.

Ginny scowled, "you haven't, but Ron has. Several times actually! You'll have to tell us about your trip over lunch, you're just in time for it."

Harry walked into the kitchen behind Ginny and was greeted by everyone. He told everyone about wizarding Sydney. How they have two Quidditch shops. At this point Harry withdrew the presents for the Weasley's who just sat in stunned silence. Eventually Ron let out a yell and punched the air, while Ginny, Fred and George danced around the table with huge grins on their faces. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley kindly thanked Harry for the gifts, and promised to give Bill and Charlie their robes the next time they saw them.

He then gave Remus and Hermione their books and both were speechless. Harry had to laugh when they both excused themselves from the table, and raced into the living room to start reading them.

The continuous crossing of time zones had Harry feeling a little jaded, and he decided to have an early night. In less than three days time, Harry would back on his broomstick. Only this time, he would be testing his skill against the best players England had.


	10. Chapter 10 – Against The Best

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Ah, the nemesis that was chapter 10. Boy did I have _heaps_ of trouble trying to write this. I nearly felt like throwing a party once I'd finished it! I HATE writing Quidditch stuff! That was one of the main reasons why I decided to cancel the Hogwarts games for this story! It's much harder to write than I thought it would be! I now have the UTMOST respect for those who can write it, and write it darn well!

Welcome back, project! I still am yet to figure out why I can not put the 99 back on my name…annoying really!

Point taken about the background, Cori. I, myself, am one of those people who tend to like a fair bit of background in the opening chapter or so. I have not read any of the HP books since last year…after I saw PoA on big screen (went back and read the whole book again). Not sure if I will even try going through them all again before HBP is released.

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Against The Best**

Harry got up early and walked into an empty kitchen. After quickly grabbing a bite to eat, he went back upstairs to his room to make sure he had everything packed for the week long Quidditch camp. Harry hadn't slept much the previous night, as he had been too excited despite apparating from Marauder's Mansion to Australia and back.

While he was away in Sydney, he received a letter from the Magical Games Department that the camp was scheduled to take place in the same location as the last World Cup final. After saying goodbye to everyone and getting the usual calls of 'good luck', Harry apparated away from Marauder's Mansion.

* * *

Harry had expected to be early, but some players seemed to have been warming up for quite some time. He watched them flying this way and that, dodging and diving. Harry thought he spotted a Wronski Feint and couldn't help a flash of satisfaction crossing his face. He feinted better than that.

Harry quickly dropped his trunk to the ground, and pulled out his Firebolt. He was about to mount it when a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Back for some more are you, Potter?"

"You didn't think that my former captain could possibly put me off Quidditch did you?"

Harry turned around, smiled and stuck out his hand.

"Oliver 'Slavedriver' Wood"

"Harry 'Madman' Potter"

Oliver grasped his hand, pumped it up and down once, and grinned. "You're better than that guy at feinting, Potter."

Harry grinned back "yeah, I know. How come you aren't up there yet?"

"Just got here, same as you. Let's head to the dorms to drop our stuff off. The first practice isn't scheduled to start for another hour yet. We might be able to get a few warm-ups in though."

Oliver then set off towards the dormitories with Harry following along just behind him.

* * *

"So how do these Professional teams work, Oliver? I guess there'll be reserves and everything."

Oliver nodded, "you'd be right. Basically a first-string team is chosen, then a full reserve one. Fortunately for you, it looks like you won't have much competition. There's only a couple seekers I've seen, and as good as they are, only one might be able to mix it with you, and I'm not just saying that, Potter."

"Thanks Oliver. You're still remembered as the best keeper at Hogwarts. Actually, we were having a bit a joke around last year, saying how our old Gryffindor team should be our National one."

Oliver laughed. "Not a bad idea, Potter. As nice as that would be, it'll never happen. See that guy over there, the one with the shaved head?"

Harry looked at where Oliver was pointing and nodded.

"His name's Ryan Mitchell. He's one of the best beaters I've ever seen, even better than the twins put together."

"No way! He's really that good?" Harry asked. He doubted anyone worked as well as the twins, let alone be better than _both_ of them.

Oliver nodded. "He is. Strange thing is he started out his career as a chaser. He copped a bludger to the head in his first season with the Cannons. After that, it seems he decided to give as good as he got. I don't envy you if you're on the opposite team, Potter. He targets seekers first."

Harry gulped, and Oliver smirked "don't worry, Potter. You've had worse than being hit with a bludger."

"Yeah, I just fell off my broom at about a hundred feet in the air!"

"Not only that, you missed the snitch!"

Harry rolled his eyes while Oliver laughed.

"What about your competition then? Who do you have to go up against?"

"I don't have any competition, Potter…"

"Even you aren't _that_ good, Oliver" Harry interrupted while smirking.

Oliver just glared at Harry before responding "I meant that they've only invited two keepers here. Therefore we're both guaranteed spots on the team. It's just a matter of seeing who will start and who'll be the reserve."

Harry nodded in understanding and quickly mounted his broom to do a couple of laps, just to get used to the feeling of flying again. As he took off, Harry couldn't help but smile. Flying came so easily for him, he felt he was untouchable and that nothing could harm him. He did a couple of dives, and he spotted Oliver below watching him.

Harry grinned. He was going to frighten the living daylights out of Oliver. Harry went into an incredibly steep dive and could see Oliver's eyes widening as the gap between them rapidly diminished. At the very last moment, Harry pulled up and could hear Oliver yelling at him.

"POTTER YOU PRAT! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR!"

Harry laughed before touching down gently beside Oliver who turned to him and gave him his best death stare.

"Sorry Oliver, but I thought I saw the snitch beside your head, that's all."

"Yeah sure you did, Potter" Oliver snarled before continuing "mind you, that was an impressive dive."

A female voice broke into their conversation,

"It certainly was. I take it that you're Harry Potter then. Glad to meet you, I'm Sarah McKinnon. I play seeker for the Falcons."

Harry turned as he heard the voice and came face-to-face with a woman who looked about twenty-four. She was of similar build to Tonks and about the same height as Harry. Unlike Tonks though, Sarah had long black hair that came down to her waist.

"Pleased to meet you, Sarah" Harry replied.

Sarah smiled "it looks like we'll be fighting for the starting spot, Harry. I can't see David beating either of us."

"Who's David?" Harry asked.

"David Carter" Oliver said, with a slight shake of his head. "He's the guy we saw earlier on Potter. He's the pretty boy of Puddlemere. Not bad on his day, but more interested in making sure he looks good for the cameras."

"And that's the problem. On his day he's alright, but you guys normally only win because you get more than 150 in front!" Sarah said.

Oliver glared, but then smiled "true. But as I said before, Potter, you feint much better than him. Must be down to my brilliant coaching skills."

"Which bit Oliver? The whole 'catch the snitch or die trying' bit, or you constantly drumming into me how I'm only supposed to catch the snitch after we're more than fifty points up?" Harry asked casually and Oliver scowled.

"You didn't really tell your seeker that did you, Wood?" Sarah asked, but Harry answered instead

"Of course he did! This is Oliver 'I live and breathe Quidditch' Wood…."

"Shut up Harry 'I fell off my broom at a hundred feet' Potter…"

"That was only because of those Dementors that showed up! If I remember rightly Oliver, _I_ was the one who won us the cup that year!"

"Dementors showed up in the middle of a game! That's _never_ happened before" Sarah exclaimed.

"They were there to catch Sirius Black. It was just that they seemed to take a liking to me at the time instead" Harry grumbled.

Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but just then a loud voice was heard,

"WOULD ALL PLAYERS PLEASE REPORT TO THE CENTRE OF THE PITCH, THANK YOU. Quietus."

* * *

Harry had been at the camp for four days, and had met all of the players attending the camp. Most had been a little apprehensive about exactly why Harry was here, and thought it was only because of his name. That was until they saw him in action in a practice game.

After that first game, their attitude towards Harry changed totally. Oliver of course knew what Harry could do, and took great pleasure in watching David Carter's eyes widen when he saw Harry execute several flawless Wronski Feints, and that was before the trial game had started.

Harry decided to saviour these moments, as he knew the upcoming year would most likely be the hardest. Voldemort had shown his hand by twice attacking, firstly at the Burrow, then at Diagon Alley. But for now, Harry pushed the threat of Voldemort to the back of his mind.

Harry saw firsthand exactly how good a beater Ryan Mitchell really was. He felt Oliver had been lying when he said he was better than the Weasley twins. That was doing Ryan a discredit. If most people were in shock at how well Harry could play, Harry had been flabbergasted with Ryan. He never once missed a bludger, and was deadly accurate with aiming it at opposing players.

Harry thought he had been fortunate that he hadn't yet been on the other team as Ryan, but knew it was only a matter of time. And his time was up as he saw the schedule for the day's proceedings. Harry secretly hoped that he would be able to find the snitch before Ryan had a chance to smash any bludgers in his direction. His only saving grace was that, contrary to what Oliver had told him, Ryan preferred to aim at the keeper first, before going after the seeker. Harry was a little relieved as he noted that Oliver would be in the firing line first.

"Great! Looks like we're on the same team, Potter. I guess we'll be seeing each other in the infirmary before the day is out."

"Don't worry Oliver, I have a plan" Harry smirked.

Oliver raised one of his eyebrows, "really, Potter? And what exactly is this _plan_ of yours hmm?"

"Remind me what the record for the fastest capture of a snitch is again?"

Oliver smirked before replying, "well, I'd be happy if you could find it within the first three seconds of play, let me tell you! How are you planning on juggling your final year with the group games?"

"I've already talked to Daniel Anderson about that. If I make the team…"

"Which you will because David is nowhere near your level" Oliver interrupted.

"The only game I'll be able to play will be the one against Albania at Christmas. And I won't get the chance to practice as they've cancelled Quidditch this year" Harry answered.

"WHAT? Are you serious, Potter? No Quidditch. Well at least you went out in a blaze of glory last year. Perfect record as captain, not a bad effort."

"It was only three games though, Oliver. I'd hardly call that an imposing record. Anyway, we probably should go and get some practice in before Ryan tries to beat us to a pulp."

Oliver agreed and the two of them headed off to the field with their broomsticks in hand.

* * *

Harry had been totally wrong about catching the snitch within three seconds, it had taken him sixteen instead. Oliver breathed a huge sigh of relief as he saw Harry speeding off to catch the tiny golden ball. Not even Ryan was able to belt a bludger in Harry's direction in time to distract him.

As the final day of the camp drew to a close, the players all huddled into the centre of the pitch awaiting their final debrief. Daniel Anderson came over and addressed the players.

"Alright. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for attending this training camp. You are the finest players this country has at present, and I am excited about our prospects for the upcoming World Cup. I won't be finalising the squad for another week yet, and the letters will be sent out shortly afterwards.

"I know a few of you will be disappointed that you didn't make the final fourteen but you shouldn't be. All of you are young and talented enough to press your cases for the 2002 World Cup. Thank you once again for your time, and I wish you all the best for the upcoming season."

The group then dismissed and were free to head back home. Harry felt the week had been a lot of fun, and he hoped he had done enough to squeeze David out of the team. He bade Oliver and Sarah farewell before grabbing his trunk and apparating back to Marauder's Mansion.


	11. Chapter 11 – A Sirius Surprise

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I had loads of fun writing this chapter! If I remember rightly (and trust me, I do!), I believe this is the second last bit of Dragonball I 'borrow' from. The rest of the story is pretty much all own ideas.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – A Sirius Surprise**

No sooner had Harry arrived back at the Mansion, he was immediately bombarded with questions about the camp. He explained how he thought he went alright, but wouldn't know whether or not he made the final squad for another week. Harry then asked whether or not if they'd managed to find anything new about the Dementors, but this was met in the negative.

Harry was about to take his trunk up into his room when he was stopped by a hiss.

"Psst, hey Pronglet! Come over here!"

Harry made his way over to the portrait and looked up at his Godfather.

"I hear you're having a bit of trouble finding information about Dementors."

Harry nodded and Sirius continued "well, I have something that might help you. You'll need some space to practice though. Reckon you could take us to visit this Spirit Room?"

"I guess so. Why do I need space to practice though?"

Sirius grinned, "you'll see when we get there. Bring Moony along, he'll enjoy it too. Oh, and also that old trunk of mine."

Harry agreed, a little reluctantly, before making his way up to his room. Remus came by shortly after with a confused look on his face.

"Sirius just told me the strangest thing. He said that you had a proposition for me."

Harry snorted, "bollocks! He just asked whether or not we'd be able to take the portrait to the Spirit Room. He reckons he has something which might help with the Dementors. Any idea what he's talking about?"

Remus shook his head, "no sorry. It'll have to wait until after tomorrow night's meeting though, Harry. Hopefully we'll be finished by nine. Are you still sure you don't want to join?"

"Yes Remus, I'm positive. Why did you guys change your mind about letting us join before we finish school anyway?"

"Well, Harry. To put it bluntly, we need all the help we can get. We know Voldemort will be recruiting from the seventh years, so we thought we should do the same."

Harry admitted Remus made a fair point, and Harry decided not to unpack as they would be leaving the next day to go back to the Spirit Room. Harry asked Remus whether or not Snape had seen the portrait, to which Remus told him he had, and his reaction had been one of shock, terror and disbelief all in one. Harry grinned at this as he imagined what Sirius and his father had said. Remus reminded him that with Lily in the portrait also, they couldn't say anything overly nasty.

Ron and Ginny weren't able to come with them to the Spirit Room, as the twins had asked if they would mind working in their shop over the holidays. Hermione had also declined to go, saying she wanted to read more of the books in the library here at the mansion. So again, it would be just Harry and Remus. Harry personally felt this would be better, as the two of them would be able to practice a lot easier without having anyone interrupting them…except those in a certain portrait.

* * *

As soon as they had dropped off their trunks in the Spirit Room, Remus spoke up 

"Right, now what in Merlin's name is this about, Sirius? Why did you want Harry to bring you here?"

Sirius grinned, "I just wanted to see this fine room, Moony, that's all. Thanks Pronglet!"

"SIRIUS BLACK! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY SON AND YOUR BEST FRIEND! THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR AND…"

"Calm down Lily, I was only joking! Now open that old trunk would you, Moony."

Remus glared at Sirius but opened the trunk nonetheless.

"Right, you should find a book in there that doesn't really belong."

Harry nodded "the cook book. I wondered why it was in there."

"Exactly. I charmed it. You'll need to say the password to remove the charm."

"As nice as this is, why don't you just hurry up and tell us the password alright!" Remus growled.

The Sirius in the portrait rolled his eyes and grinned dangerously "I'd rather you guess it, Moony!"

"DARN IT, SIRIUS! WHY WERE YOU SO STUBBORN?" Remus bellowed.

Harry looked thoughtful before something clicked in his mind. He smiled and looked at the younger version of his Godfather

"Alright, Sirius. What do I have to do? Is it like the map, or do I just say the password?"

Remus looked at Harry incredulously "what are you going on about, Harry? You don't even know the password. That mutt over there is being his normal brainless self."

"Hey! I resent that wolfie! It's like the map. Just tap it with your wand and say the password…"

"BUT YOU AREN'T TELLING US THE PASSWORD!"

Harry grinned at Remus before picking up the book.

"Really, Remus. I would've thought you of all people would have guessed it by now. If I know Sirius, then it'll open soon enough."

Harry pulled out his wand, looked at Remus before tapping the book and speaking,

"Password"

The book glowed slightly before starting to change.

Remus buried his head in his hands "oh Merlin. Please tell me you didn't, Sirius."

"Of course, Moony! What did you expect?"

"And I thought I was supposed to be the smart one" the portrait Remus quipped.

"You didn't help in any way though, did you!" his older self retorted.

"Of course he didn't. None of us knew anything about this, Remus" Lily reminded him.

"Speak for yourself, Lily. I knew everything about it. Right, the book should be back to normal by now, so what's it say, Pronglet?"

Harry grimaced at the nickname his Godfather had given him before glancing at the title

"Er…it says 'The Complete Book of the Most Powerful Spells known to Wizardkind'. It doesn't have an author though, that's rather odd."

"That's because it self updates, Pronglet. It's just a list of the spells and what they do. Some of them even have instructions on how to perform them."

"So let me get this right, Padfoot. You have a copy of a book that lists the most powerful spells ever created?"

"That's what the title says Prongs. But you're wrong."

Six confused faces all turned to Sirius before he explained

"It's not just _a_ copy. It's the _only_ copy."

* * *

The first three months went by, with Harry and Remus finally recovering from the shock of Sirius' book. Both of them were reading it and were stunned at just how many spells were described. Not all of them had full details of how to perform them, but there were a handful, the Patronus charm being one, that gave a full history and thorough instructions about how to execute them. 

Remus had gone to bed, and Harry was flicking through the book when a spell caught his eye. It was called the Fusion charm, and combined two people to form one being. Harry thought it sounded like what Voldemort had done to Trent, but this was different. While Voldemort had possessed and taken over Trent's body completely, the fusion spell just merged the two beings for a maximum of one hour. After the hour was up, the two people then had to wait a full day before using it again.

Harry had shown Remus the next day, but Remus took one look at it and refused. It didn't put Harry off from wanting to try it though. He waited patiently while the two of them scoured the book for any information about a spell that would destroy someone's soul.

It took them another two months before they had finished going through the book, and like before their search yielded no results. Harry took this chance to once again ask Remus about the charm.

"Forget it Harry, no way!"

"Please Remus? This might be the only way to beat him if we don't find anything out about the Dementors kiss. Don't you care if I die?" Harry pleaded.

Remus snorted, "of course I care. But I'm a wizard, not a gymnast for Merlin's sake!"

Harry rolled his eyes "neither am I, Remus. But if it worked for Voldemort, it should work for us."

"NO! He used another method. I'm not doing that ridiculous spell. Forget it!"

Harry crossed his arms and scowled. "Fine. I hope everyone reminds you of your stubbornness at my funeral. That is, if you don't die before then."

Harry knew he was pulling on Remus' heartstrings a bit, but he didn't care. Harry wanted to try the fusion technique Sirius' book had mentioned. It was one of the few spells that gave a detailed description of how to perform it.

Remus sighed in defeat, "all right Harry. We'll do this once, and only once."

Harry nodded and the two of them went over exactly how to perform the charm. It only lasted one hour, with the incantation being 'Fusionio'. The problem was that for the spell to work properly, the two people who performed it must do so at exactly the same time. The movements also had to mirror each other. That meant that one person had to do the charm left-handed, and that raised some problems. Neither Harry nor Remus were left-handed, so practising this charm was somewhat difficult.

The other problem was the rather unique wand movements. Remus wasn't kidding when he said they were ridiculous. It was similar to the levitation charm with a flick and a swish, but was much more distinctive. Harry agreed that it did look somewhat feminine, but if this is what it took for him to defeat Voldemort then he'd do it. Even if Remus had joked that Voldemort might choke to death from laughing too much.

Harry had been practising the wand movements with his left hand, as he knew Remus wouldn't. He felt comfortable enough doing it, and that had led him to ask the older wizard to once again help him out.

"All right, Harry. Let's do this now while we're here. That way no one will see us."

"Wrong Moony, we're watching. I don't want to miss this!" James grinned.

Remus growled before conjuring a sheet and covering the portrait amid protests from its occupants, even Lily. He then turned to Harry and the two of them got into position.

"Ok. Remember Remus, we have to synchronise our movements perfectly for this to work. Ready?"

Remus sighed, "as I'll ever be, Harry. Let's get it over with."

Harry nodded, and the two of them performed the necessary wand movements before they both shouted "Fusionio!"

Nothing happened. Harry looked a bit disappointed while Remus looked relieved.

"Right. There you are Harry, we tried it and it didn't work. Time for lunch."

Remus then started to walk away.

"We're doing this until we get it right, Remus" Harry growled.

Remus glared, but got into position once more. After two further attempts, they finally did just that.

"Fusionio!"

An intense white light erupted from both Harry's and Remus' wands, and when they connected, the light enveloped both of the wizards as well. A great rush of wind issued forth, and the sheet covering the portrait fell away. When the light had settled down to a more normal level, only one figure could be seen.

"Oh wow! Look at that! It worked!" Peter excitedly remarked.

The new person conjured a mirror and nearly gasped with what it saw. The new figure wasn't wearing glasses, had Remus' face and clothes, while having Harry's hair, eyes and lightening bolt scar on its forehead.

"Well? How do you feel?" Sirius asked a little nervously.

The being turned and faced the portrait before smiling, "what do you call a Remus and a Harry? Harremus sounds alright" the person spoke, with both Harry's and Remus' voice at the same time giving it a kind of stereo effect.

"Let's check power levels shall we" he casually said.

With that, Harremus let out a roar and was instantly surrounded by a bright yellow glow. Harremus looked immensely disappointed.

"Bugger. Why haven't we fully transformed? Oh, that'd be Remus' fault. Darn werewolf can't do it yet. We'll have to fix that when we separate then won't we. We're not going through this again, Harry. Besides, Trent already tried to get me to transform and it didn't work. Your middle name is John! What kind of a stupid name is _that_? I mean, who in their right mind would call their son, Remus _John_ Lupin? Shut up, Harry _James_ Potter! You're not the only one named after your father alright!"

Harremus then saw the looks on the Marauder's and Lily's faces, and asked "what?"

"Ah…that looks really weird. You do realise you're talking to yourself, don't you?"

Harremus snorted, "of course we are, Padfoot. We're two people in one body, what did you expect?"

"Something more…subdued. The charm looks like it's given you a massive ego boost."

"You're one to talk, Prongs. I'm still nowhere _near_ your level" Harremus smirked.

"Shut it Mo…ah…Harremus. I've outgrown that stage, but I'll agree with Padfoot. This is weird!" James answered back.

Harremus rolled his eyes before testing out his abilities. He summoned a Patronus and found it had assumed the combined form of Harry's and Remus'.

"I never knew your Patronus was a werewolf, Remus. I thought it takes the form of what you consider to be safe? Once I've transformed, I do feel safe though. I think it's better than your stag. Hey, that's my Dad you're making fun of there!"

"You're doing it again! Stop talking to yourself. It's driving me mad!"

"Like you can talk, Moony. You were already talking to yourself once we picked the portrait up, or did you forget that I'm your older self?"

The younger Remus looked a little shocked, but remained quiet.

Lily however spoke up. "You know what. I think I know why you're this arrogant. That fusion must combine both of your egos as well."

Harremus looked stunned. "I…I think you're right Lily. I never knew you had such a big head, Harry. Shut up, Remus, I reckon our egos mostly yours, not mine. WHAT? You are kidding me right. I might have to deflate your head a bit once we separate, Harry. Yeah and I'll have to get you some new clothes, these are _dreadful_."

Sirius, James, Peter and the younger Remus were laughing uproariously as Harremus continued to bicker with himself. Lily was also having a hard time stifling her giggles, but Harremus wasn't paying them the slightest bit of attention.

Eventually, the rest of the hour passed, and Harremus was no more. Another white light burst forth from his body, and when it subsided Harry and Remus were back as themselves again.

"Well, that was…interesting."

"I would hardly call it that, Harry. I will admit though that our combined power was phenomenal. Even without me being able to fully transform."

Harry grinned. "Well, we're going to fix that tomorrow then, Remus. For once, I'm going to teach _you_ something."

* * *

"Ok. So what situations did Trent use to try to get you to transform?" 

"Anything and everything."

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose before answering "er…that's not very helpful, Remus."

Harry then turned his attention to the portrait of his parents and their friends, "what do you guys think? What really got Remus annoyed at Hogwarts?"

"Ah…the library being closed?" Sirius suggested, ignoring both Remus' glares.

"He got pretty upset when Sirius sent Sniv…Snape to follow him in fifth year" James said, with a quick glance towards Lily who just glared at him.

Remus shook his head, "that didn't work either. We even tried imagining if I'd actually killed both you and Severus, James."

"Oh" was all Harry's father could reply with.

Harry was deep in thought as he ran through some things he'd read about werewolves while doing assignments.

"How much did you…push that situation, Remus?" Harry asked.

"I just told you…"

"Did you visualise other people instead?" Harry interrupted.

Remus looked somewhat confused, "what are you getting at, Harry?"

Harry again looked thoughtful before answering. "Well. I imagine you weren't impressed with Sirius after he did that right?"

Remus nodded his agreement, as did those in the portrait.

"Ok then. I've read a fair bit about werewolves, and despite several conflicting theories, they do agree on some main issues. One of those is that all werewolves mate for life. Did Trent try anything like that?"

Remus' face (and that of his portrait's self) instantly went bright red, while James, Peter and Sirius burst out laughing. Lily decided to help Harry out a little.

"Ah son? You might want to reword that request a bit."

Harry's eyes widened when he realised how that must have sounded.

"Oh! Right…er…let me explain it better. I want you to imagine that instead of Sirius sending Snape to follow you, he unknowingly sent your mate instead. Is that better?"

Remus' face had regained some of its normal colour and he nodded "ok, I understand that now."

"Good, now think how mad you'd be after you found out it was Sirius, who you trusted with your secret of being a werewolf, who did it."

Remus nodded and shut his eyes picturing the situation.

"Don't be afraid to yell at Padfoot either" James piped up, ignoring the somewhat colourful language Sirius then sent him.

Remus nodded again and could feel something inside him. He felt his anger starting to rise as he imagined the helpless look in his mate's eyes as he started his attack. He let his rage come to the surface as he sat in the hospital wing listening as his friends explain what had happened. How the wolf inside him had killed his mate and one of his best friends. Remus could feel his fury being stretched to its limit like an elastic band.

"SIRIUS!" Remus roared. Everyone flinched as they felt Remus' anger being directed towards Harry's situation.

"Ah Pronglet? Are you sure this was a good idea?" Sirius asked, sounding very concerned.

Harry sighed. "Yes Sirius. To fully transform, you have to experience great pain and rage. Don't worry, if this works, I'm sure Remus will forgive you. After all, this particular situation never actually happened."

Harry looked over towards Remus, and could see his hands curling into fists. He could feel Remus' power rising and knew he was close. Harry thought he maybe needed one more push to send him over the edge. Harry saw Remus open his eyes. He could see Remus' anguish and knew that if this didn't work, nothing would.

"Now imagine being told that you're too dangerous. And you'll have to spend the rest of your days locked in Azkaban, _never_ to see your friends again."

Remus let out a deafening howl before being enveloped by a golden light. Once the light had receded, Harry smiled. There stood Remus completely surrounded by a golden glow and with gold hair that was slightly standing on its end.

"Wh…what just happened?"

"Wormtail, you prat! Moony has obviously transformed!" James replied.

"And how! Look at him, that's brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed.

Harry looked at his Professor and smiled.

"Well done Remus. Sorry I had to use such drastic measures, but remember what I went through for mine to happen."

Remus grinned back "yes I remember. At least this time, no one got hurt."

"Speak for yourself, Moony. I'm not feeling too good right now" Sirius sulked and Lily smacked him on the side of his head.

"Be quiet Sirius. You haven't forgotten that Harry only transformed after both Peter and Albus had been murdered in front of him have you?"

"No I haven't forgotten. I'm just feeling a little insulted at the method Pronglet used to get him to transform."

"Sorry Sirius. But it was the only thing I could think of. Besides, the ends justified the means I think" Harry said before turning to Remus and smirked.

"Right. Let's have some fun shall we."

And with that, Harry himself transformed before starting to spar with Remus.


	12. Chapter 12 – Meeting The Parents

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

That won't be the last time that book, or that person is mentioned. I picked those two to merge (temporarily at least!), mainly because they're the only two who can (now fully) transform. Hence they'd be more powerful than if Harry did the same thing with, say Ron or Neville. Also, as you've probably guessed by now, Remus is my favourite character from the series. I just really feel sorry for the guy (and hacked off that they stuffed him up so badly in the movie, grrrr!).

This chapter contains a bit about the Potter's (again, just my ideas, don't take it as gospel!), and yet another letter.

A couple of answers for a couple of people; is Harry like Gohan (from DBZ), will he go "super 2"? Do you really expect me to answer that right now (I'm being _quite_ sarcastic in case you can't tell!)!

Harry isn't the most powerful wizard…well, not in my story. I believe I mention that twice in Dormant (chapter 8 and 22 from memory…and when it comes to what goes on in my stories, I have a very good one of those!). How close is he? You'll have to wait and see (I have given some hints…that is all I'll say on this matter)!

Oh, before I forget, I'm not going to be able to update this weekend. The reason? I'll be in Melbourne for the opening F1 race of the 2005 season, I can't wait! What's that I can hear? Yes, I DO have a social life you know!

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Meeting The Parents**

The rest of the time in the Spirit Room went by rather quickly, with Harry and Remus continuing to spar. Now that both of them could fully transform, the intensity of their battles was incredible. The occupants of the portrait were stunned into silence with the speed of which Harry and Remus were attacking each other. They had agreed to not combine magical and muggle methods of fighting, which made their duels more interesting.

Harry still hadn't been able to beat Remus, but he had taken him to several draws. Harry was the more powerful, but Remus had slightly better technique. Harry was beginning to get frustrated with this, as he knew Trent had taught him more martial arts than he did with Remus. But Remus explained that while Harry was learning three different types of martial arts, he himself had only chosen to learn Ninjitsu. This meant that Trent was able to teach Remus much more advanced moves than what he did with Harry.

When they weren't training, Harry was talking to his parents, finally getting to know them. He found out that it was Remus who helped his father with writing letters and getting presents for Lily, mainly because Remus was the smartest of the Marauders. Lily looked a little shocked after she found out, but admitted Remus had good taste. Harry even heard her say that she ended up marrying the wrong person, a fact which Sirius took great delight in reminding James about several times.

Harry learnt that his mother wanted to become a Healer at St. Mungos, while his father was training to be an Auror. Sirius also went to the Ministry to be an Auror and worked alongside James, while Peter and Remus found it difficult to get jobs but for different reasons.

Peter found himself working in Muggle Relations, in a similar role to Mr. Weasley, but was finding it rather boring and was looking for something else. Remus on the other hand knew he would find it tough to hold down a job, as he couldn't work during the times of the full moon. Harry asked Remus about this, as he had told him that he did have some muggle jobs, while he was building Marauder's Mansion.

Remus answered this by saying he mainly worked part-time in libraries. He then had to put up with the continuous comments James and Sirius made about this, but Lily soon managed to quieten the duo down with another of her 'Weasley rants' as Harry had called them, but only when out of earshot of the portrait. Harry was a little confused about this, as when he first met Remus on the train, he had 'Professor' written his trunk. Remus replied that since he knew he would be teaching at Hogwarts, he charmed his old trunk from just reading 'R J Lupin' to his new title.

They also discussed exactly where the Potter's had gotten their fortune from. James told Harry how his parents were into the Muggle Stock Exchange, and had made a killing by buying into the right markets at the right time. James also informed Harry that the Potter family vault could only be used by those who were of age, and that was why Harry had not heard about it before. He also apologised to his friends (even Lily) for not telling them about the vault. The vault Harry had been using since his first year was the same one that James' parents had set up for him for when he was at Hogwarts.

Sirius then also explained that his family had done a similar thing to James' and bought in on several muggle businesses and had made most of their fortune from that. Harry queried him about that, because Sirius had told him when he first came to Grimmauld Place that the Black's were pureblood fanatics.

Sirius laughed him off saying that because of that, his grandparents had decided what better way to control muggles than own a few of their businesses? Harry admitted that it was a pretty good idea and asked him more about the spell book. But Sirius sighed and said he didn't know much about it, only that it was his brother's, Regulus, and he'd nicked it from him when Regulus started at Hogwarts. When he saw the title, he charmed it so no one would be able to find it again as he was one of the few Black's who was always against going Dark.

Soon their year in the Spirit Room was up, and Remus and Harry packed everything up and stepped through the door back to Marauder's Mansion.

* * *

A few days after Harry and Remus came back, Harry received two letters. The first was from Gringotts telling him that all of Trent's possessions had been transferred into his vault as he had requested. The second was from the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Harry knew it was about whether or not he'd made the English squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Suddenly Harry didn't feel terribly well. Despite his love for Quidditch, he didn't really want to open the letter in case they had decided not to pick him on the team. Eventually, it was Ginny who pinched the letter from him and opened it. She cleared her throat and began to read the letter to those sitting in the kitchen.

"Dear Mr. Potter. Well isn't that a nice start! No 'boy-who-lived' or 'Pronglet', just 'Mr. Potter'. Lovely."

Harry glared at Ginny as she continued to read the letter.

"Thank you once again for participating in our training camp to decide the English squad for the upcoming World Cup. As you are aware, the competition was of high quality, blah, blah, blah, just tell us if he made the ruddy team! Oh finally! We are…oh my!"

Ginny's eyes widened and Harry shot out of his chair, "what is it, Ginny? I didn't make the team, did I" he said, his voice braced for disappointment.

Ginny turned to him and shook her head, "no you didn't."

She then grinned "you _did_ make reserve seeker though."

Harry was speechless. He'd made the English Quidditch squad. He hardly remembered everyone pumping his hand, and slapping his back in congratulation. Harry just stood in the kitchen with his mouth open in shock. The enormity of his achievement didn't sink in until after he'd read the letter for the fifth time.

It stated that because Harry was still at school, he would only be able to play in the game against Albania (which Harry knew anyway), that was scheduled to take place over Christmas. If Sarah, who'd made the team as first-choice seeker, became injured before this, Harry would then be rushed into the team as her replacement, with David Carter being called in as the reserve.

Harry wanted to see his vault the next day now that all of Trent's possessions had been transferred over to it. But this had been met with a round of disapproval before Remus, Mad-Eye, Tonks and Bill all said that they'd go with Harry to make sure he was safe. Harry initially was against this, as he reasoned that he wasn't going to be there that long, and he was able to suppress his energy to such an extent that it would be impossible for Voldemort (because of Trent) to locate him.

Everyone else shot down his theory, stating that he wasn't to go anywhere without protection. They told him that Voldemort had raided two more places while Harry was away at Quidditch camp and Harry eventually relented, albeit quite reluctantly.

* * *

After a much shorter ride into the depths of Gringotts, Harry and the others stepped inside his vault. Mike had informed Harry that while Trent did live a somewhat lavish lifestyle, he normally spent everything he had rather than save it. Harry therefore wasn't surprised to see that his stacks of money had hardly increased at all, but there was one item that caught his eye.

Harry spotted Trent's old trunk near the entrance of the vault. Harry however, was a little surprised that this was basically the _only_ thing different about his vault than before. That was until he saw that the trunk contained seven locks. Mad-Eye had looked the most interested in the trunk, as he himself was in possession of one. Harry had wanted to see what the trunk contained, but Remus reminded him that they were only here to see Harry's vault, and that it would be far easier to take the trunk with him back to Marauder's Mansion.

Harry agreed and no sooner had the group got back, Harry went straight into his room to inspect the trunk. Like Sirius' one, this trunk was also black, but it showed no signs of fading. Nor did it have any crests or other features apart from the seven keyholes. All in all, Harry had to admit it did look quite boring.

He was a little miffed that it was locked and that 'Alohomora' didn't work on any of the keyholes. Something about that didn't seem right, so Harry tried Trent's Jaguar key and smiled when the trunk lid popped open. 'He always did say that car was his pride and joy. Who would possibly guess that only this key would open his trunk if they didn't know him?'

Like Moody's trunk had just over two years ago, the first compartment contained books. Harry had a quick look through them and noted that most of them were about Dark Arts, and the defence of them. Harry closed the trunk before deciding to open all the other locks. The second, third and fourth also contained books, but on different topics, with Potions, Charms and Magical Creatures each having their own section. The fifth contained Trent's Dark detectors, weapons and several portraits (including the one of the werewolf).

The sixth was a room which Trent had used to store his love of cars. Harry climbed down the ladder and looked around. He quickly spotted Trent's model Jaguar sitting proudly in the middle of the room on a pedestal. He also found several magazines and pictures of people Harry had never heard of before, and he assumed them to be racing drivers. Harry climbed back up the ladder and shut the trunk. He then inserted the key into the seventh and final lock and gasped with what he saw when it opened.

Like the sixth compartment, this one was also a room. However, this room was setup like a muggle living room. Harry could make out a couch, a bookcase, a table and a television set with video recorder. Harry let his curiosity get the better of him and went down into the chamber after making sure his bedroom door was locked, and that Trent's trunk wouldn't close on him while he was down there.

He looked around in the room in awe. Mike hadn't been kidding when he told Harry that Trent liked to spoil himself. Harry had never seen a living room quite like this before. Harry spotted a portable muggle stereo on the table near the enormous television set. The bookshelf (which didn't have any books on it) was split into two and contained several muggle videos and music albums. Harry browsed through some of the titles and wasn't really surprised to see that most of them were martial arts videos.

Harry spotted three videos titled 'Star Wars' and was reminded of the conversation Trent and he had after Harry had humiliated Draco in their first Duelling lesson. Harry went over Trent's music collection and noted that he had quite a wide range in taste. He was about to climb up the ladder to exit the room when a letter addressed to him caught his eye. Harry recognised the writing and sat down on the couch before opening Trent's letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_If you're reading this, then you've figured out how to open my trunk and most likely everything will have been transferred over into your name. Now I know I didn't know you for that long, but what I did see of you I was mighty impressed with._

_I am writing this letter shortly after the Easter battle. Judging by your reaction to the Lestrange incident, I am guessing that you've never had to take someone's life before. It isn't the most pleasant feeling in the world, and I was relieved to see that you almost immediately regretted your actions. But believe what I told you, Harry. She did deserve it, even if you felt your method was slightly more extreme than necessary._

_This is war, Harry. The normal rules no longer apply. Voldemort and his followers will do anything to achieve their quest of overrunning our world, so those that choose to fight against them must be prepared to roll their sleeves up. Be fortunate that you are young enough not to remember Voldemort's last reign. If you think things are bad now, you have no idea of the way they were before you stopped Voldemort._

_During my brief stay at Hogwarts during Remus' final year, it was normal for at least four letters a week coming in telling students that someone close to them had been killed. I hope things never reach that scale of destruction this time around. Remember this, Harry; war doesn't determine who's right, it determines who's left._

_I know you didn't appreciate me telling you about the possibility of you turning Dark, but it is a valid point. Because of your connection with Voldemort, the darkness will be very difficult for you to resist, more so than anyone else. If you ever feel it starting to get too much, please don't hesitate to talk to someone about it, Remus in particular. If there's anyone who knows how helpless things can be, it's him. If you have doubts over that, ask him how his transformations under the light of the full moon felt, and you'll soon see what I mean._

_In case you're interested, that portrait I have, the one of the werewolf going through its transformation, is Remus. It was taken while we were trying to come up with a cure during Remus' first trip to the Spirit Room. Obviously as you could tell, our first attempt wasn't that successful. Thank Merlin for Wolfsbane or I wouldn't be writing this letter right now!_

_Now, onto more pleasant things. All the muggle items in this trunk have been charmed to work inside Hogwarts (trust me, they do work!). If you ever get bored, or just need a quiet place to study (Remus would kill me if I suggested you didn't do that in your final year!), feel free to use this room and everything else that is in the trunk. Anyone inside cannot be locked in, even if the lid accidentally shuts on you while you're down here (or someone tries to be smart and shuts it on purpose, Mike did that to me once!)._

_I wish you all the best in your final year at Hogwarts, and with your quest to become an Auror._

_Sincerely,_

_Trent Fuller_

Harry sighed as he finished reading the last letter Trent had written for him. He was brought out of his thoughts by a voice from above him.

"Harry, are you down there?"

"Yes Remus. I've just been having a look around, that's all. You can come down if you like."

"No, don't worry about it. I just came up to let you know that dinner's nearly ready. Why'd you put charms up on your door? I had to apparate to get inside."

Harry chuckled, "I didn't want anyone to shut me in while I was down here in the trunk. But apparently you can't be locked in your own trunk. Trent left a note saying that."

"Oh. Did he say anything else?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. He said that I can use this for a quiet place to study for my NEWT's in. He also mentioned that picture he has of the werewolf is you."

"Ah yes, I remember that _very_ clearly. It was the last time I had to go through it too. Anyway, you should probably come downstairs soon, Ron and the rest are wondering where you've been all day."

Harry got up and left Trent's trunk after making sure he had the key on him and didn't lock it inside. He then followed Remus down into the kitchen and sheepishly smiled at his friends before explaining some of the things he'd found in Trent's trunk. Hermione was immediately interested when Harry told them about the charmed stereo and television, and asked Harry whether she would be able to see some of the titles Trent had. Harry agreed and told her she was more than welcome to use it, as was Ron, Ginny and Remus.


	13. Chapter 13 – It’s Good To Be Head Boy

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I like the contrast between Lily and James that JKR has given us so far. Lily seems to be the kind, compassionate type, whereas James is the gung-ho action kind of guy. However, both would defend their friends to the death.

We've seen Harry do all at that; he's made friends with those most wouldn't normally touch (a house elf, a werewolf and a half-giant for example), he's good in battles (even if some of it has been luck, he DID manage to force that Prior Incantatem back onto Voldemort's wand. Very strong willed is young Harry!), and like his parents he, too, depends a lot on those around him.

Oh, they finally get back to Hogwarts in this chapter. I know in Dormant I used up a third of the story before they did, and it's a similar story for this one.

As for the password…I know quite a few people who do that! Besides, Hermione told us in book 1 that wizards are not exactly clever at working something like that out!

Uncanny Resemblance fits in just between the end of the last chappie and this one, if you want to read the thing in chronological order.

* * *

**Chapter 13 – It's Good To Be Head Boy**

The rest of the summer went by quickly, with Harry and his friends relaxing in Trent's trunk, watching a few videos and listening to some of the music Trent had in his collection. Hermione and Harry had to explain the concept of television to Ron, Ginny and Remus, as well as the muggle compact disc stereo. Ron in particular couldn't grasp the concept of how a small shiny round thing could possibly play music. Try as they might, Harry and Hermione were unable to explain exactly how it worked and eventually gave up.

Harry and Hermione had also received a letter from McGonagall explaining what was expected of them as Head students. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione informed him that they weren't expected to do as much as she originally thought. They didn't have to patrol the school like the prefects did, but they did have to attend meetings with the prefects and then inform McGonagall (as Headmistress) of any interesting news that may have come up from the meetings.

The first of these meetings were to take place on the Hogwarts Express, and Harry wasn't looking forward to it. He knew from Ron last year that Malfoy was still prefect, and knew that as was the case for the previous six journeys, he'd have to face the blond-haired Slytherin yet again.

As September first dawned and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were finishing off their packing, Harry pondered that this would be the second last time he'd be getting ready to go back to Hogwarts after the holidays (after Christmas being the final time). Remus had left the day before, choosing this time not to ride the train like he had done on the previous two occasions he was to be teaching. Harry had packed both his and Sirius' trunks into Trent's and had shrunk that trunk before heading downstairs to wait for the others.

Like last year, Harry and the others arrived at platform 9¾ with time to spare. Unlike last year though, it was decided for them to apparate directly to the platform. This meant it was up to Harry to take everyone there, as the wards around the platform made it impossible for normal apparition.

Harry and the others spotted Neville in an empty carriage and were soon joined by Luna. Neville didn't want to be left alone in the carriage while the others went off to have their meeting, so he went next door into Dean and Seamus' carriage. Harry entered into the prefect compartment behind the others and inwardly groaned as he heard an all too familiar drawl.

"What do you think you're doing, Potter? This meeting doesn't concern you, so leave now."

"Actually Malfoy, as Head Boy, this meeting _does_ concern me. So if you don't mind, I think I'll stay" Harry replied, and noted with satisfaction the look of shock on Draco's face as he spotted Harry's badge.

"Alright. Now that the niceties are out of the way," Hermione shot both Harry and Draco a glare before continuing, "we have some details to discuss. I think it'll just be easier if we keep the same patrol roster as last year, with the new fifth years taking over the seventh years patrols. If anyone has any problems with this, speak now."

No one, not even Malfoy said anything so Hermione carried on

"Good. Then I'd like to remind the fifth years that it's your job to take the first years to their dorms, and to show them around what will be home for the next seven years. Welcome back everyone and meeting dismissed."

Harry, Ginny, Ron Hermione and Luna all made their way back to their carriage and once they'd settled into their seats, Harry spoke up

"Is the meeting normally that short?"

Ron snorted, "no. Our first one dragged on for ages, didn't it Hermione."

"Yes it was rather tedious. Last years was a little better, but really I didn't see the point in having a nice long chat with everyone. Besides, I don't know about you, but I certainly didn't want to spend any more time than was necessary with Malfoy."

The others nodded their approval and sat back to enjoy the ride to Hogwarts and swapped summer stories. All of them were looking forward to having Remus teaching them again, and wondered who would be Remus' partner for the Duelling classes. As the train slowed down into the station, Harry smiled as he realised that apart from the prefect meeting, Draco hadn't bothered them at all.

Ron must have noticed this because he also grinned and said "glad to see the little ferret finally learnt his lesson. Shame it took him _this_ long really."

"You forgot the bouncing bit, Ron" Harry said with a grin as they exited the train.

Ron grinned back as they headed off towards the lake but stopped dead in his tracks when he got there. Harry wondered what was going on, until he heard Ron ask

"Wh…what the heck are those things pulling the carriages!?"

"Ron you prat. Didn't you learn anything from Hagrid in fifth year? They're thestrals" Hermione chided him.

A dawning of realisation struck Ron and he managed to splutter, "b…but that…that means…the Easter battle…I've…"

"Seen someone get killed" Harry finished for him.

Ron nodded. "But how come I don't remember seeing them on the way back three months ago?"

"Because you were too busy moaning that you weren't full after the closing feast" Ginny answered.

"She's right Ron. I could see them on the trip across the lake when we were leaving" Hermione said.

"No chance of help from you is there mate. You already could see them two years ago" Ron smiled weakly at Harry who nodded and looked around.

"You guys seen Hagrid yet? He said in his letter that he's got something for me, but I didn't see him when we got off the train."

"Now that you mention it, no I haven't seen him. But we were one of the last to get off the train, so maybe he's already at Hogwarts."

Harry and the others agreed, and watched the sight of Hogwarts come into their view as the thestrals pulled them across to the other side of the lake. They quickly made their way into the Great Hall to wait for the sorting of the first years to begin. Harry noticed that Hagrid was sitting up at the staff table next to Remus, and he gave the half-giant a wave. Hagrid nodded in his direction before the main door opened, and the first year students walked in. Harry was a bit surprised as he couldn't initially see a teacher with them, but then remembered that Professor Flitwick was now Deputy Headmaster, and he would be around the same height as the first year students.

As was the case for the previous two years, the Sorting Hat urged the entire school to unite with each other in the fight against Voldemort before the first years were sorted. Hermione told them that she hadn't read anywhere about that ever happening before, even in 'Hogwarts: A History'. Harry politely asked if it was in 'Lord of the Rings' and Hermione gave him a glare, while Ron asked what Harry was talking about. Hermione told him that it was a muggle book that had over a thousand pages, and that Ron wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in reading it.

The feast had finished and Professor McGonagall welcomed back all the students, before handing out everyone's timetables and letting them head off to their dorms. She asked Harry and Hermione to follow her to her office for a Head Students debrief. The two of them said goodbye to Ron and Ginny before exiting the Hall behind the Headmistress.

She led them into Dumbledore's old office, and Harry was a little relieved to see that not much had changed. Most of Dumbledore's possessions were still present, even Fawkes, who Remus had told Harry didn't want to be perched anywhere else but in this office. McGonagall offered them the seats across from her desk and once Harry and Hermione were seated, she started talking

"Firstly, let me congratulate you both on becoming Head Students. You will know most of your duties from the list I posted out to you a little while ago. As Head Students, you will be expected to lead by example, and that means no breaking of rules."

She looked directly at Harry when she said this and Harry gulped.

"I believe you will be far too busy to even contemplate doing what you did last year, Mr. Potter. Even without Quidditch, you have NEWT's. You showed a tremendous improvement in your studies last year, and both of you were top of all your classes which is why you've been chosen as Head Students. Now, if you will follow me I'll show you both to your quarters."

"Quarters? Er, what do you mean, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Head Boy and Head Girl have a separate dorm from everyone else. You won't be in Gryffindor tower anymore. I suggest you choose a password for your portrait."

Harry's eyes widened, "er. We aren't…I mean that is to say, Hermione and I…"

"No Potter, you will not be sharing a room, merely a portrait" McGonagall answered with a small smile as she saw Harry release a breath he'd been holding. She stopped in front of the portrait of Sir Cadogan on his pony and Harry groaned.

"Please, anyone but him! Last time we had him for a portrait he kept changing the password everyday!"

"Don't worry, Potter. Only you or Miss Granger can change the password. After all, this is your living quarters for the rest of the year. I'll leave you to choose a password, which you will need to inform me of tomorrow. Good night."

With that, she strode off leaving Harry and Hermione standing in front of Sir Cadogan who remarked,

"Come on! What's ye password going ter be?"

Harry grinned at Hermione and asked, "how about 'Voldemort'?"

Hermione had a shocked look on her face before grinning back, "great idea, Harry. That way, hardly anyone will be able to enter!"

"'Voldemort' it is then" Harry said before the portrait swung open allowing them access to the dorm.

As they both looked around, they noticed that they were standing in a common room, almost identical to the one in Gryffindor tower. Harry guessed it was because both Hermione and he were from the same house. There was a lounge in front of the fireplace, and a large table that Hermione said would be for doing their homework. Two doors were located towards the back of the room, one with 'Head Boy' written on it, the other with 'Head Girl'.

Harry opened his door and walked inside. He was stunned to find a four-poster bed, much larger than the ones in the dormitories, and also another door which led into a small bathroom. He noticed his trunk had been brought in, so he unpacked his other two trunks from within that one before settling down to get some sleep. As he drifted off, he couldn't help but smile and think to himself about how good things might be as Head Boy.


	14. Chapter 14 – Propositioned

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I have no idea if the Head Students get their own dorm (in other words, Keron, I forgot about that bit in PoA. Thanks for giving me an idea though, you'll find out in chapter 16!). And no, there is not going to be anything…serious happening between the characters. This is a PG story, so minds out of the gutter please people! Actually, I'm not even planning on hooking anyone up at all to be honest.

Tux, not much is going to happen first day back...as you will see with the first sentence!

mosley, Harry told Remus to just imagine shredding his mate...I actually did not mean that he had one! My apologies for any confusion created.

Oh Bailey, I shall warn you; there may be one moment in this chapter that you won't like. However, that's as close as it gets, believe me!

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Propositioned**

Harry's first two weeks back at Hogwarts had gone quite well. Remus had been made Head of Gryffindor, as McGonagall was the new Headmistress, which had stunned Remus, but all of Gryffindor house thought it was great news. Harry was very shocked to find that Snape would be teaching alongside Remus in the Duelling classes.

Transfiguration had been mostly a review of what they'd covered the previous year, as was Charms, Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Wandless Magic had been far more interesting for Harry, as he was now able to do nearly all of the spells Dobby had taught them last year.

Harry was in his common room going reading some of Trent's books and listening to some music, when Ron came in.

"What in Merlin's name are you listening to?"

Harry shrugged, "no idea. Hermione was listening to it before she left to go to the library. I guess she put the stereo on repeat, I could swear I heard this song about an hour ago. I see you finally managed to get in our room."

Ron glared at his friend. "Well, you _would_ pick the one word that no one says."

Harry chuckled, "I say it. So does Hermione, Ginny, Remus…"

"Ok, I get the point. I just wondered where you were. This place is great! Percy never told us anything about it, stupid git. Wow, you've got your own bathroom!"

Harry looked up and nearly yelled at his friend when he saw him. "Ron, get out of there! That's Hermione's room! She'd kill you if she found you in there!"

Ron's face was one of horror and he quickly slammed the door before sitting down opposite Harry at the desk.

"Sorry. The door was open though, so I just thought it was your room. So what _are_ you doing up here anyway? I've hardly seen you outside of classes and meals."

"I'm going through all of Trent's books trying to find anything out about Dementors. Have you heard back from your Dad yet?"

Ron shook his head, "not yet. Were you being serious when you said you'd pay Vol…Voldemort a visit, hey that's twice I've said it now!"

Harry snorted, "right. So I've convinced another that you don't get struck by lightening if you say his name out loud. I was being serious though. If I can't find anything…"

Harry was interrupted when the fire burst into life, and the head of Remus Lupin could be seen.

"Hi Remus. How's your first fortnight as Gryffindor Head of House been?"

"Not too bad, Harry. I just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I heard about what your password is. I must say I'm impressed, I've never seen Severus that shocked before! Not many people will bother you now you've chosen that as your password. Much more original than that one of Sirius'" Remus replied.

"Yeah, having 'password' as the password was rather bland, but it was enough to fool you!"

"Yes well. Anyway, as your Head of House, I demand you to go and visit Hagrid. He's been waiting for you!"

"I already did, Remus. Last week in fact. He said he'd show me what his letter meant this afternoon. Since it's still morning, I thought I'd read some of Trent's books to see if they mention anything about Dementors. You're welcome to come along with me. I'm going down there after lunch."

"Sorry Harry, I can't. We've got an Order meeting. Could you please…"

"What meeting? How come I don't know about it?" Ron interrupted.

"Never mind, Harry. I was going to ask you to tell Ron, but it looks like you won't have to. Be at Professor McGonagall's office by three Ron. The password is 'lemondrop'."

Ron nodded before Remus vanished. Ron managed to drag Harry away for lunch early. This was made easier as Harry had been unable to find anything new about Dementors in any of Trent's books.

* * *

Harry woke early the next morning still in shock with what Hagrid had done yesterday. He grabbed Trent's trunk and lugged it into the common room. He opened the sixth chamber of the trunk and pulled out a small model that he placed in the middle of the floor. 

Harry enlarged it to its normal size and just stared at it. He had only ever seen this in his dreams when he was little, and even then he had no idea what it actually looked like. Hermione yawned and came out of her room and was stunned with what she saw.

"Ha…Harry! What is that?"

"A present from Hagrid" Harry replied, not bothering to look at her.

"B…but where did Hagrid get it from? It can't be his, surely."

Harry shook his head, "no it's not Hagrid's. I've only ever dreamed about this, I've never actually seen it before."

"Do you know whose it is then?"

"Mine now. This was Sirius' motorbike. He gave it to Hagrid the night my parents were killed. Sirius charmed it so it can fly, just like Mr. Weasley's car could."

"So is that what Hagrid's surprise for you was?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that and Buckbeak. Sirius wanted me to have him too, but I told Hagrid that he was more attached to him than I'll ever be. He's going to use him again for his Magical Creatures class."

"Really, that's wonderful news. But I would like to know why you have Sirius' bike in the middle of our common room though."

Harry gave her a sheepish smile, "I er…I just wanted to make sure I didn't dream it this time. What is the time anyway?"

"I thought you bought a new watch in Sydney? It's just after six. Still a bit early for breakfast, but I'm going to head down there anyway, want to come with me?"

"I'm still not used to having a watch that's all. I'll just put this back in the trunk, then I'll go down" Harry replied before shrinking Sirius' bike and putting it in the sixth chamber of Trent's trunk, next to the model Jaguar.

He then took the trunk into his room before going back into the common room where Hermione was waiting for him. The two of them then headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast.

* * *

Harry was sitting at the table eating his breakfast when the morning mail arrived. Surprisingly, an owl dropped a letter in Harry's lap before taking off. Harry looked it over and didn't recognise the writing or the seal. He asked Ron about it, in case it was another Ministry Department, but Ron was just as baffled. 

Harry shrugged and opened the letter. He was surprised to find it only contained a piece of parchment that had one line of writing on it.

_Meet me outside the Astronomy Tower. Tonight at ten. Come alone._

"You're not going there alone, Harry. It could be a trap!" Hermione hissed after reading over Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded, "I agree, but I do have the map. I can check to see if it's an ambush or something. Besides, I have a feeling that there's much more to this note than we think. Are you patrolling that part tonight Ron?"

Ron shook his head. "No, but I think Ginny is."

Ginny whipped her head around at the mention of her name, "what am I doing, Ron?"

"Are you patrolling the Astronomy tower tonight?" Harry asked, and she nodded.

"You think you'll be able to steer clear of it at around ten?"

"Why, have you got a date or something, Harry? Have you been holding out on us?" Ginny smirked, and Harry's eyes widened.

"No…no I wouldn't do that! I just got a note saying for me to turn up there at ten…"

"Oooh, a secret admirer!" Ginny cooed, flashing her eyelashes.

Harry's face started to flush with embarrassment, before Hermione bailed him out

"Don't be silly, Ginny. Harry thinks this note he got might have something to do with Voldemort."

"Oh. Sorry Harry, I was just teasing you, you know."

Harry nodded in reply as his face slowly began to regain its normal colour.

* * *

Harry was sitting in his room watching the map to see if he could gain any clue as to who wanted to meet with him. He spotted the prefects who were on patrol, and saw that Ginny and her partner had already checked the Astronomy tower and were heading off elsewhere. Harry then saw a dot moving towards that area and his mouth fell open in disbelief. 

'Malfoy? What possible reason is there for him to want to meet me? And why now?' Harry thought as he checked the map and saw Malfoy's labelled dot moving ever closer to the Astronomy Tower.

Harry quickly grabbed his cloak and wand before making his way towards the tower himself. Hermione wasn't in the common room, so Harry decided against letting her know who he was going to be meeting with. He arrived at the Astronomy tower just after ten, and waited to see if he was going to be ambushed. Malfoy started to get impatient and began to walk away before Harry spoke

"I'm here, Malfoy. I'm just making sure this isn't some kind of trick."

Malfoy jumped back a little a looked around wildly, "wh…where are you, Potter?"

Harry drew his wand and took off his invisibility cloak. Malfoy looked stunned, "you…I never knew you had one of those! Now I know it _was_ you who threw that snowball at me in Hogsmeade during our third year!"

"Why did you want to meet me, Malfoy?" Harry asked, his voice holding a great degree of spite.

Malfoy closed his eyes and sighed before answering. "I need to tell you something important, Potter. After I became of age, my father decided it was time…"

"Time for what, Malfoy?" Harry interrupted, his wand still pointed at Draco's chest.

Draco sighed again before pulling up his robe sleeve. Harry's eyes widened as he could clearly make out a very familiar tattoo on his forearm.

"I'm a Death Eater, Potter."

Harry looked stunned. Not by knowing this, but that Draco would admit it to _him_ of all people.

"Don't look so surprised Potter. You've seen firsthand what my father's like."

"Wh…why are you telling _me_ this?" Harry asked, his mind racing with all sorts of impossible answers.

Draco nearly snorted before answering, "after I attended my first full meeting, I decided it wasn't worth it. I never realised exactly what being one pertained. I know everyone thinks it's up to you to beat the Dark Lord, and to be honest, I think you can."

Harry looked incredulously, "you er…haven't hit your head or anything, have you?"

Draco rolled his eyes "no Potter, and nor am I using Polyjuice or under the influence of any other potions or spells. I'm telling you this because you're the only one who might be able to help me."

Harry was stunned. "Help…you? Sounds like you've already made your decision…"

"I have, but I can't exactly tell my father that can I?"

Harry admitted that Malfoy had a point. His father would probably kill him if Draco had told him this.

"Ok, you're right there. But what can I do to help you?"

"I will continue my role of a Death Eater. Being still at school means I don't go on raids or anything like that, but I will be attending some meetings. I'll inform you, and _only_ you, of any developments that the Dark Lord is planning."

Harry was still lost for words when Draco started to walk off after saying "remember Potter, this meeting never happened."

"Wait Malfoy."

Draco stopped and turned around.

"What made you change your mind?" Harry asked.

Draco narrowed his eyes before replying "a Malfoy bows to _no one_ Potter. Not even a Dark Lord."

He then turned on his heel and sauntered off back to his dorm leaving a totally bewildered Harry in his wake.


	15. Chapter 15 – Secrets Of The Spy

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Hands up if you saw that coming! Again, I'd like to stress that these are just my ideas about what potentially could happen. As is the rest of the story.

Mpro1, kill Remus? Oh no, I have a _much_ better use for him, bwahahaha!

And young Draco? I totally agree with you, darkness about the whole OOC bit.

Can I just get some opinions on something please? The chapter titles; I would just like to know if they sort of give you an inkling into what may happen in them. I tried to make them so they did, but would just like to check.

A bit of everyone's favourite Potions teacher too!

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**Chapter 15 – Secrets Of The Spy**

Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room after his meeting with Malfoy. He could hardly believe that his school nemesis had not only admitted being a Death Eater, but that he would assist in the battle _against_ Voldemort. He was still lost in his thoughts and didn't notice when he ran smack bang into someone. Harry looked up and inwardly groaned as he recognised the coal black eyes of his Potions Professor.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the _golden_ boy himself. Rules are there for everyone else except him. What are you up to Potter? Going for a midnight stroll perhaps?" Snape sneered at him.

"Actually _sir_, if you don't mind, I was just on my way back from a meeting."

Snape arched his eyebrows and curled his lips before replying

"I see. And tell me Potter, what _meeting_ was this? I know for a fact that prefects and Head Students did not have a meeting tonight."

Harry gritted his teeth, but remembered that Snape was a part of the Order. Harry decided it was time for some answers from his Potions Professor.

"You're right, Professor. It wasn't a prefect meeting. I met up with a _very_ reliable acquaintance of mine, and they will be informing me of some of Vold…the Dark Lord's plans."

Snape looked surprised, but recovered quickly and narrowed his eyes.

"I see. Are you doubting my value to the Order, Potter. Because I can tell you that I am the only person playing this game for our side."

"And whose side would that be, Professor? Dumbledore is dead, so you don't owe him anything. You're free to crawl back to Voldemort now" Harry said, deciding to give as good as he was getting.

Harry could feel Snape's anger rising, and thought he could see Snape's nostrils start to flare.

"I will _not_ tolerate your incompetence, Potter. _Never_ doubt me again. I have put my life at risk more times than you could even…"

Snape never got to finish as Remus came around the corner.

"What's going on here? Harry, why are you out of bed at this time of night?"

"I'm doubting the allegiances of your spy, Remus" Harry said, his eyes not moving from Snape.

If Harry had been paying attention to Remus, he would have noticed the somewhat stunned look on his face before Remus next spoke.

"Harry, come with me please…"

"No. I want to know _exactly_ why Dumbledore trusted _him_ so much. Why did he join Voldemort's side, only to back out later? The last person I know who tried that was Sirius' brother, Regulus, and look where it got him" Harry interrupted, still not taking his eyes off of Snape.

Snape narrowed his eyes "you wouldn't understand it, Potter. This battle isn't just about you, you know. Your tiny brain could not possibly fathom the reasons I…"

"Then here's your chance, _Professor_. Make me understand. I told _you_ why he wants me dead. What is your role within the Order?"

Snape looked furious. "This is madness Potter! I will _never_ tell you why…"

"Fine. Then I'm not telling _you_ about my sources."

Harry then made to leave, but Snape grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Harry felt those coal black eyes boring into his own.

"Very well Potter. You will have your wish. I shall tell you why Dumbledore trusted me so much. Come to my office tomorrow night after dinner" Snape hissed.

Harry glared back into Snape's eyes. "No. I want to know right now. We shall go to the Room of Requirement, and you will tell me there. After which, I will then tell you my source of information."

Snape looked like he was going to argue, but Remus cut him off,

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. It's getting late…"

"All the more reason to do this now" Harry interrupted. "I have some preparations to make for my next fight with Voldemort. And the longer I put those off, the more chance he has of winning."

Harry then broke out of Snape's grasp and headed off to where the Room of Requirement was located. Once he got there, he wasn't surprised to see both Remus and Snape following behind. Harry walked past the portrait three times and wished for somewhere like his common room for their chat.

The door appeared and the three of them stepped inside. Snape looked highly annoyed at the choice of décor, so Harry made some changes. He adjusted the room to be a blend of both Gryffindor and Slytherin colours, and held back a laugh as he saw the surprised look on Snape's face. Harry then sat down, and waited for the story to begin. Remus and Snape also sat down and after a tense moment of silence, Snape sighed and began to talk.

"This goes no further than this room."

He continued after Remus and Harry nodded in agreement.

"As you know, I attended Hogwarts at the same time as your father, Potter. I was in my seventh year when I was approached by my father about joining the Dark Lord. I knew most of my fellow seventh years had either already joined, or would as soon as they became of age. I wasn't even given a choice by my father, he just expected me to join."

Harry was somewhat shocked, "are you saying that you didn't _want_ to join in the first place?"

Snape glared at Harry and shook his head. "No. I said I wasn't given a choice, Potter. It wasn't until after I graduated from Hogwarts that I was able to gain a better idea of exactly what being a Death Eater pertained. I went on my first mission, which happened to be at Hogsmeade, with my father and Lucius Malfoy's father. I saw them both get killed, and I was captured, by Potter and Black of all people. Yes Potter, your father was training to be an Auror."

"I never even thought you wouldn't want to join Voldemort's ranks, Severus. I just assumed you would, after all you were, still are, always interested in the Dark Arts."

"Of course you wouldn't have known, Lupin. You were too busy planning your next prank on me to even care…"

"Are you capable of putting aside your childish grudges for any period of time Professor? I fail to see how that has anything to do with the story" Harry interrupted as he saw Remus' eyes start to flash with anger.

"_Don't_ call me childish Potter. It has _everything_ to do with it. It was Black who caught me. It was Black who wanted to kill me once he recognised who I was."

"But he obviously didn't, did he. So did Dumbledore insist on him not killing you?"

Snape sighed "no. It was your father, Potter. To this day I do not know why he did it, but he was the one that convinced Black not to kill me. You told us about the prophecy a few months ago, and you mentioned me in it."

Both Harry and Remus were confused, and Snape shook his head slightly before speaking again

"I would have thought that between the two of you, that one would figure it out by now."

Remus' mouth hung open slightly, "you were the other who heard the prophecy! You got captured then, and somehow Dumbledore convinced you to spy for our side!"

Snape nodded, "very good Lupin. I was about to head back to the Dark Lord to inform him of what had happened to mine and Malfoy's father, but then I saw Dumbledore walking into the Hogshead. I followed him and overhead the first part of the prophecy. After I had been thrown out, I went back and informed the Dark Lord of everything that had happened that night. I was on my way back home when I got caught by Black and Potter. I was then taken to Hogwarts, on Dumbledore's orders, where I was offered the chance to teach in return for spying on the Dark Lord."

Harry nodded, "you started teaching in 1981. I overheard you tell Umbridge that it was your fourteenth year of teaching…"

"During one of her interrogations of my classes no doubt" Snape cut him off. "You are right though Potter. This is now my sixteenth year of teaching Potions. I was unable to teach the school year that began in 1980 as all of the positions were filled..."

"But why did Dumbledore never give you the Defence post? You said you always applied for it" Harry interrupted.

Snape glared at Harry, "I also said that only Dumbledore knew the reasons why he never allowed me to. If I were to guess, I'd say that he didn't want to expose me to the Dark Arts unnecessarily."

Snape then casually asked "does that end your interrogation of me Potter? Will you now tell me your _reliable_ source?"

Harry looked thoughtful. Snape had told him and Remus a fair bit about him, but he hadn't told them _why_ he changed sides. He was about to ask this when Remus cut him off

"He's right Harry. Save any other questions for another time. What do you have for us?"

Harry sighed. He hated whenever Remus read his mind, but had to agree that he now knew more about the enigma that is Severus Snape.

"My source is Draco Malfoy. It seems he thinks much like yourself Professor. He doesn't think being a Death Eater is worth his time."

Remus and Snape both looked shocked.

"And you trust him do you, Potter. That would be an interesting developm…"

"Of course I don't trust him," Harry cut in. "I need you to figure out whether or not we can. After all, he is _your_ student sir. Just use Veritaserum on him like I did with Peter last year."

Remus looked at Harry incredulously "y…you used that on Peter! Did you find out he was forced to give up your parents' location then?"

Harry nodded, "a few months before you did, Remus. I found out in February. I used my samples from class. After what happened the previous year with my samples being…tampered with," he gave Snape a glare, "I made sure that wouldn't happen again. I put unbreakable charms on the vials, plus took two extra vials of the potion and its antidote in case my originals were…misplaced."

Snape looked quite surprised. "Well Potter, I must say I'm impressed. You certainly were rather busy last year. I shall try to find out whether or not we can use young Malfoy, but I think it best if you did not meet with him until I see his true allegiance, understood?"

Harry nodded and watched his Potions Professor sweep out of the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

Harry then turned to Remus and asked "how does he _do_ that! My robes never do that!"

Remus chuckled before he turned to Harry, "my office, next Wednesday night please Harry. I'm quite surprised Severus didn't take points off you, but you should not treat your Professors like that."

Harry nodded in reply before heading off to his dorm to get some sleep.


	16. Chapter 16 – Alerting Friends

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Remember, all the stuff on Severus is just my ideas…so of course I know they'll be WAY off!

CALLING ALL INTERESTED PARTIES! Have I got anyone's attention…at all? Just thought I'd let you know…I have a new fic idea. I'm pretty sure the gist of it has been used before, although I hope not to the extent I shall pursue it. I have recently bought a new Star Wars game (Knights of the Old Republic 2) and have found it to be as good as the first thus far.

Basically, I would like to combine this with Harry Potter. However, this won't be the normal kind of crossover you might be expecting. This fic will be delve into the one area that none of my stories have (or will) cover; time travel. To those who haven't played this game, don't worry about it. The Star Wars thing isn't really the key issue here, it'll still be a Harry Potter story. Having said that, there are a few people you do need a bit of background on so I shall provide that now. Revan and Malak; think Luke and Vader (in terms of 'light' and 'dark', not 'son' and 'father') and you'll get what I mean.

The story takes place just before Harry's fifth year and revolves around Remus (I know I've said he's my fav character, but there is another reason I choose him!) suddenly being found floating in space. A ship picks him up (Revan on board) and heals him. Remus wakes up, recognises Revan as his, Remus', old Defence Prof from fifth year. Remus teaches Revan about being a wizard, while Revan teaches Remus how to 'control' the wolf within (Jedi beast control trick. Hence why I pick Remus and not someone else).

They go back, the trip takes a few years (no hyperspace route), and find everything has gone to s…ah, bad. They find out what happened in those years (won't put it up here, as that'll ruin a fair bit of it!), go back to 1995 then to 1974 and try to make sense of everything.

Intrigued? Thinking 'why is he writing this?' perhaps? I know how frustrating it is when reading a fic and you're sitting there thinking 'this is quite good. If _only_ they add this bit in, it'll make it so much better though'. Well, I'm giving you that chance. I know there are _loads_ of people who are far more creative, much better with describing things, and _far_ better with grammar than myself. If anyone is interested, you can always drop me a line, I certainly don't mind kicking ideas around, or joint-writing for that matter. I believe my email address is on my profile, so…if you're feeling up to the challenge!

If no ones comes back, that's fine, I just thought I'd give you a shot at contributing if you want. I haven't asked for a whole lot of input into my stories thus far (nor will I, since BotE is done, and the way I want my Marauder fic to be is quite specific), but since this would be something totally different to anything I've written…thought I might as well see if anyone else is interested.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the next chapter!

Oh, just picked up on what you mean from your review for ch 11, nogoalie. My apologies, you are quite right. I did say Harry is the most powerful..._magically_. This is just what I personally believe...after all he mastered one of the more difficult spells, the Patronus, when he was 13. So in terms of raw magical power, yes (I believe) he is the most powerful, but can he _harness_ it...

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**Chapter 16 – Alerting Friends**

Wednesday dinner came and went and Harry slowly made his way to Remus' office. Snape hadn't forgotten the way Harry treated him, and had taken eighty points off Gryffindor in two classes (Potions and Duelling). Ron and Hermione quizzed Harry on this to which he replied that he'd insulted Snape, and was lucky not to have more points taken off for it. His friends had asked him exactly what insults he used, but Harry refused to tell them, saying that he promised never to repeat what he'd said.

Harry himself had been stunned to find out that his father and Sirius had caught Snape, as their portrait selves never mentioned it. He felt that Dumbledore must have had something to do with it, because surely Sirius would have reminded Snape in the Shrieking Shack some three years ago. He stopped outside Remus' office and knocked on the door.

"It's unlocked Harry, come in" Remus answered through the door.

The older wizard looked up as Harry entered, and waited for him to sit down before talking.

"Harry, I know you don't like Severus very much, but you still should not have done what you did last week."

"Well he shouldn't have asked me about what I'd been up to earl…" Harry started, but Remus cut him off.

"That is beside the point, Harry. Severus was doing his job, making sure _all_ students were safely in their dorms, and not roaming the castle. Severus has helped the Order more than you can imagine. Even though Sirius would never admit to it, he knew that Severus had risked his life on more than one occasion once the Order had been reformed."

"I don't see how to be honest."

"Harry…"

"No, Remus. Look, I know I shouldn't have done it and I'm sorry. But I need to know who I can trust and who I can't."

"You don't know if you can trust Draco."

"No, I don't. But how does Malfoy know that it was me and not someone using Polyjuice that he actually met with."

Remus had to admit that Harry did make a valid point. "Ok. But how do _you_ know it was Draco you met with?"

"You told me that the map never lies. I watched Malfoy moving towards where he asked to meet me, and knew it was him. The map's not fooled by people using potions" Harry replied.

Remus looked shocked. "What exactly do you do with your spare time, Harry? Do you just sit on your bed and watch the map or something. How did you find out about the map being able to see through the Polyjuice potion?"

"I found out accidentally in my fourth year. I saw Crouch in Snape's…"

"_Professor_ Snape's" Remus corrected.

"…office one night. But of course at that stage no one knew he was impersonating Mad-Eye. He asked me if he could borrow the map, saying that it might be exactly what he needed. I realise now what he meant by that."

"Go on" Remus said, and sat up straighter in his chair.

Harry sighed "he didn't want me finding out his little secret. That and he was probably using the map to see when certain people were alone, or out of their offices. How did you guys come with the map in the first place?"

Remus smiled, "it was James' idea. During our…many adventures after they'd managed to become animagi, we covered basically every inch of the Hogwarts grounds. James suggested we make a map to show where everything is."

"Yeah, but who's idea was it to be able to see where everyone was on it?"

"Peter's. He thought it would be easier to do our pranks if we knew where everyone was at any time. We finished it a few weeks into our sixth year. I did most of the charms on it actually."

Harry wasn't surprised it had been Peter's idea. Harry got the impression that Peter seemed to be that kind of person during their meetings last year.

"Then how'd it get confiscated?"

"That would be Peter's clumsiness. During our last year, we were coming back from preparing a prank on the entire Slytherin house for the next morning, when Peter tripped on one of the trick stairs. Since the Aurors were posted around the school, it wasn't long before one of them turned up to investigate the noise."

"Then why didn't they destroy it?" Harry asked.

Remus smiled as he remembered that night, "because who should happen to find us, but one Trent Fuller. He told me during my apprenticeship that he was about to give the map back to us, but Filch showed up. Trent gave the blank map to Filch, telling him to keep it in a safe place."

"In a drawer where Fred and George found it some ten years later" Harry finished.

Remus nodded, "then who should they happen to choose to give it to, but you. Funny how things work out in the end isn't it" he mused.

"But Harry, why did you want to know about Severus for?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed, "I know he's a Death Eater, or was one anyway. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have doubted him after he helped in that battle at Easter. But he obviously had to, even if he _was_ still working for Voldemort."

"To keep the rest of us believing he was on our side" Remus said understanding what Harry was getting at. "Did you know that was the first time Voldemort had ever attacked the school? Even during his first reign he never did that."

"He probably would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for that siren going off. Hermione told us later that even she didn't know about it, and she must've read 'Hogwarts: A History' at least a dozen times."

Remus chuckled, "she wasn't alone. I think Dumbledore was the only one who knew about it. At least we'll know what it means if it happens again I guess."

"If it happens again, we'll need loads more help though. He'll know about the siren from Trent, and won't risk attacking unless he's got enough forces."

Remus looked thoughtful before a small smile crossed his face. "You're right, Harry. And thank you for giving me an idea."

Remus stood up and was about to open the door when Harry spluttered, "you…you can't do that! That's just…how can you leave after you've just said that!"

Remus smiled and faced Harry. "If we can somehow hook that siren up to the Ministry Aurors, we might get some additional help that Voldemort won't be expecting."

"But if there's anyone inside the Ministry who works for Voldemort, they'll be able to inform him" Harry argued.

"Perhaps. But if we only tell Tonks and Kingsley, they can inform others if, and only if, the siren goes off. That way, no one will _have_ time to inform Voldemort. Oh, and thirty points from Gryffindor…"

Harry looked stunned and interrupted "what for!"

"For talking to Severus the way you did. But I'll award you ten points for giving me this idea. That gives a total of one hundred points that you've lost, a fair result I believe. Before we leave, I need to talk to you about this whole Dementor idea."

"You've heard back from Mr. Weasley then!" Harry asked, with a little excitement.

Remus nodded. "Yes, I have and I'm sorry, Harry. There's just no way the Ministry would allow you to get a Dementor. Arthur's looked into it as much as he can, so have Tonks and Kingsley. Even if you _could_ get a hold of one, there is absolutely no chance the Ministry would allow you to administer it to kiss someone."

Harry looked disappointed but thanked Remus anyway. Harry then made his way slowly to his dorm. He knew what the magical energy around a Dementor felt like, as he'd practiced on his Boggart. But he needed to find the key behind how they suck the soul out of someone.

He had nearly gotten to his dorm when an idea struck him. He raced into the common room and opened a door at the back of his bedroom after ignoring Hermione who seemed quite surprised before turning back to her homework. He had found out from McGonagall that since Harry was from Gryffindor, there was a one way corridor that led from his bedroom, straight into the Gryffindor common room.

He ran inside and found Ron sitting at a table with a drowsy look on his face next to a stack of books.

"Ron! Wake up. I need your help with something."

"Wh...what it is Harry?" Ron asked somewhat sleepily.

"Come with me, I need to run something by you and Hermione"

Ron slowly stood up and Harry led him to the portrait of Sir Cadogan before ushering his friend inside.

"Harry Potter! How dare you just ignore me like that! Have you no sense of…"

Harry interrupted her and addressed Ron. "Which department does Percy work for now?"

Ron's face darkened and his eyes narrowed before answering.

"Why do you want _him_ for? He's nothing but a lying, backstabbing…"

"Person who has access to something I need" Harry interrupted.

"What's your idea, Harry?" Hermione asked, not looking up from her parchment, but still fuming at being ignored.

"I need to get into Azkaban."

"WHAT! Why do you want to go there of all places?"

"Because I need someone for a Dementor to kiss, Ron."

Both of his friends' eyes widened in shock. Hermione's quill clattered to the floor before Ron recovered first.

"Please tell me you're joking. You can't just go waltzing into Azkaban with a Dementor and let it kiss someone!"

"No, I need permission to enter it whenever I like. Then I need to capture a Dementor, Voldemort has loads, so he won't miss one. Then I need to find out exactly how they suck out souls."

"Hmm, you might actually be onto something Harry. You told us you can sense our energy being drawn towards a Dementor, but how are you going to sense how they perform the actual kiss?" Hermione asked

"Er, well…I'm not too sure yet." Harry admitted

Ron banged his head on the desk.

"Let me get this right. You want Percy to sign some forms to allow you to enter Azkaban whenever you want. Then you want to capture a Dementor and get it to kiss someone. After that you want to somehow figure out how they do the kiss so you can beat Vol…Voldemort. But you have no idea how to do it yet."

Harry ran his hand through his messy hair, "yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Are you out of your mind, Harry! That's just mental!"

"Well I'm open to ideas Ron! I need help to figure out a way to somehow recreate a spell that no one knows how to do."

"I guess you've checked all of Trent's and Sirius' books by now" Hermione queried and Harry shook his head.

"You've seen how many books Trent has. I'm not even a quarter of the way through them yet!"

"I can help you Harry, after all I can read much quicker than you" Hermione said.

"That's true. How about you Ron, I know how much you don't like reading…"

"This is far more important, Harry. Count me in. Hogsmeade's in a couple of weeks, much earlier than last year. Maybe we can take a break then if we haven't found anything" Ron interrupted.

Harry nodded. "Alright, it's settled then. We can get started on it this weekend."

The weekend came and went with Harry, Ron and Hermione all trying to find anything about Dementors in Trent's books. They had managed to get through nearly half of the books by the time Sunday night came around. They still hadn't found anything of use, Harry had gotten an idea and asked Hermione if she'd ask Professor Binns to see if he knew of any such spell. Hermione agreed and said she'd talk to the ghost Professor after her next History lesson.

Remus had come by to inform Ron that he would be unable to go to Hogsmeade as the Order had scheduled a meeting for that day, this time at Marauder's Mansion. Ron looked a little disappointed, but agreed to attend nonetheless. Ron then left Harry's and Hermione's common room, while Harry decided to get to bed.

He'd managed to catch up on all of his homework, which he now found was rather easy having done a lot of reading over the last year. As he drifted off, he wondered whether Snape had managed to see if Malfoy really was an ally in this war, or if Voldemort had staged the whole thing.


	17. Chapter 17 – Wheels In Motion

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Well, they need someway of getting assistance, and I just thought another siren thingy was the easiest.

Will Harry go to Azkaban? Well, you'll have to wait and see! Will I give a hint…I thought I've been dropping quite a few to be honest. Read my notes for next chapter…now _that's_ a hint! Here's another one; by the time I post ch 20, you should have a pretty fair idea of what I have planned.

* * *

**Chapter 17 – Wheels In Motion**

Harry didn't have to wait long to find out about Draco. Monday morning's Potions had finished and the class were packing their things away when Snape spoke.

"Potter, you will stay behind. I need to talk to you about your last _assignment_."

Hermione looked at him inquisitively and Harry just shrugged his shoulders before heading up to his Professor's desk.

"Yes Professor?" Harry asked.

Snape looked around and shut the door, before casting a locking charm on it. He turned back to Harry, his wand still pointed at the door.

"Silencio. Now Potter about this spy of yours. I have tested him under Veritaserum, and it seems that we do indeed have a new accomplice among the Dark Lord's ranks."

Harry was a little surprised that he was now able to trust his long-time foe.

"I just thought I'd best tell you, as he desires to meet with you this Friday."

"Did he say where, sir?" Harry asked.

Snape shook his head, "no. He only said to meet him at the same place, same time. I take it you know where he is implying."

Harry nodded. Draco wanted to meet outside the Astronomy tower, Friday night at ten.

"Very well then, Potter. It would be wise to not let on to anyone about him. In other words, don't try to be _nice_ to him. Now, get out of my classroom, I need to prepare it before those bumbling first years seek to tear it apart."

Harry nodded again, and quickly walked out of the Potions dungeon.

* * *

Harry made his way to the Astronomy Tower after he had sent his letter off to Percy. He had tried his best to appeal to Percy's Gryffindor side, and told him that if he helped Harry to gain access to Azkaban whenever he liked, Harry would try to convince his siblings to forgive him.

Draco nodded at Harry as he rounded the final corner to the tower.

"He's planning on attacking the school at Easter."

Harry was stunned. It was only October, and Easter wasn't until late April next year.

"That's quite some way off. Why's he waiting until then?"

"He wants to plan every last detail, Potter. He doesn't want you to get away again."

Harry just stood there in silence, and Draco continued "obviously I don't know the full details. I do know he's got trolls, giants, banshees, vampires, werewolves and Dementors on his side though."

The mention of Dementors made Harry's eyes light up. He still hadn't managed to figure out how a Dementor performs their kiss, and felt that now might be the right time to ask.

"How closely does he guard his Dementors, Malfoy?"

Draco looked surprised and replied "not very closely. Why did you ask that? You know better than most what they're like anytime you get near one."

"I have an idea on how to beat Voldemort for good, but I need a Dementor to practice with."

He then told Draco the same things that he had mentioned to Hermione and Ron on the weekend. Malfoy looked just as stunned as they did when Harry finished.

"I…I never thought I'd be saying this, but I agree with Weasley. You're mad, Potter! I can see what you're trying to do though."

"Can you help me, Malfoy?"

Draco raised his eyebrows in reply and smirked, "I'm sorry. What did you say, Potter? I didn't quite hear you."

Harry glared before answering "you heard me perfectly well, Malfoy. I need to know when your next meeting is. That way you might be able to find out when the next raid is going to be."

Draco snorted "even _you_ aren't stupid enough to follow them on a raid Potter. You'll never get close enough to a Dementor anyway. Why don't you just walk up and ask one how they do their kiss" Draco shook his head as he said the last part, but it gave Harry an idea.

"Yeah. You're right Malfoy, it's a stupid idea. But knowing when the next raid is would help us to organise a defence."

Malfoy nodded before informing Harry that the next raid would be taking place at a small town just outside Leeds in three weeks time. Harry inwardly groaned as he realised that was around Halloween. 'That makes every darn year!' he thought as Draco and Harry separated and walked back to their dorms while Harry thought more about his idea.

He knew exactly how to sense a Dementor. Some of them would most likely be taken on the raid. That also meant that some would be left behind. If Voldemort himself went on the raid, Harry decided to pay the Dementors a visit. He knew that Voldemort must have offered them something for serving him, so the Dementors have some sense of thought. Harry decided to 'ask one' if he could offer them something in return for them to not follow Voldemort.

* * *

"Why do you want to come to the meeting, Harry? You won't be allowed in, you know that."

"This is really important though Ron. I need to get in and tell them. I'll go under my cloak if need be. Either way, I'm going to that meeting!"

Ron sighed in defeat before saying Harry's idea about going under his invisibility cloak would be the easiest way. Once Harry grabbed his cloak and the map, they made their way outside to apparate to Godric's Hollow. Once there, Harry put on his cloak and entered the mansion behind Ron. Harry squeezed up next to the wall and waited for everyone to be seated before whipping off his cloak.

"Right, I know I'm not technically a member of the Order…"

"Then get out, Potter!" Snape interrupted.

Harry ignored him and continued, "but I have been informed of when Voldemort will strike. Do you still want me to leave, Professor?"

Snape glared at Harry but said nothing. Harry looked around the rest of the table, and noted everyone was looking at him, waiting for Harry to resume.

"Very well. He will attack a village just outside Leeds on Halloween."

This statement was met with murmurs from the Order, but Harry wasn't finished,

"But I suggest you start organising for the much bigger battle that's due to take place at Easter."

"Why, what's going to happen at Easter, Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at his friend and Ron could see the same resolve in Harry's eyes that he saw when they had gone to the Ministry the night Sirius died.

"Voldemort will attack Hogwarts at Easter, Ron. This will be the ultimate battle. Whoever wins it, will most likely win the war."

A hush descended upon the Order until Professor Flitwick spoke

"Are you sure your information is accurate, Mr. Potter?"

Harry glanced at Snape before answering "I'm told my source is _extremely_ reliable, Professor. We need to organise our defences around Hogwarts, and get as many allies as possible. I will know when they enter the grounds, and will be able to keep an eye on them, but I can't do that. As most of you are aware, I need to be in the main attack."

"What do you mean you'll be able to keep an eye on them when they enter the grounds? I didn't know you were able to detect magical signatures that clearly Potter!" McGonagall said.

Remus and Harry shared a look, and Remus nodded in understanding. Harry knew that Remus was giving him permission to expose the Marauder's finest work. Harry withdrew an old bit of parchment from his robes.

Ron looked shocked, but Fred and George were thunderstruck.

"Harry, you aren't really considering doing what my brother and I think you are! You'll violate the pranking code!" Fred said, and George nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

"Sorry guys, but the last founder approves. Besides, it will best serve its purpose this way."

"Are you implying that that old piece of parchment is some sort of map, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Harry nodded before turning to Remus, "will it work this far from home, Remus?"

Remus nodded, "yes Harry. The map was designed to always show Hogwarts, no matter where it was used."

Harry then raised his wand. "Good. In that case everyone, may I present to you, the Marauder's Map."

Harry tapped the parchment with his wand and spoke "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The blank parchment then came to life, sprouting lines that interconnected and before long the entire Hogwarts grounds could be seen.

Snape then turned to Remus and glared "so that's how it works, Lupin!"

Remus smiled in return "only if you know the password, Severus. Besides, we made it with you in mind."

Snape scowled and muttered to himself, and Harry couldn't help but laugh as he remembered the way the map had insulted Snape back in Harry's third year.

The rest of the meeting went by with everyone trying to think about the best way to organise their defences around Hogwarts. Hagrid was asked to see if he could convince any of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest to help them, while Remus told them about the new alarm in the Ministry that will alert them of when the battle has started. It was agreed for Harry to keep the map with him at Hogwarts, and inform the Professors of anything unusual that he saw.

Harry neglected to inform anyone about his plan concerning the Dementors, as he knew everyone would try to stop him. Harry knew he was taking a big risk, but so far, all of their searching had proved to be futile. He had heard back from Percy via a letter, who had told Harry in no uncertain terms that what he wanted was highly dangerous, and that he wanted no part of it.

Harry looked a beaten man as he saw perhaps his only chance be squashed in front of his eyes, but Percy then told him that because he asked so politely and had come to him first over anyone else, he had signed the necessary forms for him. Harry's face had lit up as Percy finished the letter reminding Harry to be very careful, and not to let anyone know about his (Percy's) role in things if things didn't go as Harry hoped.


	18. Chapter 18 – You Remember Me?

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

No takers yet…fair enough then. I shall start working on it a bit more seriously then. But after I make more of an effort on my prequel.

Will the Order listen to Harry? They know that he is the only one who can beat Voldemort, and most of them trust Harry, so they should take heed from his warning.

So…anyone figure out what's going to happen yet? The next two chapters were quite fun to write, and there's a pretty big key in one of them. Oh, and you'll find out a fact I told you in my notes for chapter 12…namely someone's power. I only mention power levels a few more times after this chapter…come to think of it I actually _don't_ give a reading as such for this bit! I do in a few chappies time though!

And yes, I know Percy's a prat…but he must have been in Gryffindor for _some_ reason!

* * *

**Chapter 18 – You Remember Me?**

The next fortnight quickly went by, with Harry becoming increasingly nervous about his decision to try to reason with the Dementors. He had no idea what Voldemort had offered them in return for serving him, and no books he had read mentioned anything about the Dementors being capable of thought. Hermione had brought him more bad news by telling him that Professor Binns was unaware of the legend that Dumbledore had told Harry about.

They both had settled down to do some Potions study. Harry was nearly ready to give up on ever finding out whether it was actually true or if it was purely a myth, when he had a sudden thought.

"Nearly-headless Nick!" he exclaimed while Hermione looked at him quizzically.

"Ah no, Harry, that's wrong. Sugar is the single easiest item that makes the Wolfsbane potion useless, not Sir Nichol…"

"No not that, Hermione! Nick might be able to tell us if Dumbledore's legend is true, he's over 500 years old remember!"

Hermione's face dawned in realisation, "of course! That's a fantastic idea Harry, but I haven't seen Nick since the welcoming feast."

"Nor have I. But the next time I do, I'm going to ask him about it. Actually, I'm going to look for him right now."

Harry stood up, summoned his invisibility cloak and the map, before racing over to the portrait, leaving a rather flustered Hermione in his wake.

"Harry James Potter! Come back here! You promised you'd go over this with me for our…oh I don't know why I even bother. Just don't be too long, Harry. We really should study for the NEWT. It'll be much more difficult than the OWL was."

"I'm aware of that, Hermione. I'll try not to be too late alright."

He saw Hermione nod, and exited the common room. Once Harry got outside he exhaled the breath he'd been holding. He had almost forgotten that tonight was the night Voldemort would be ordering the raid. He quickly slipped under his cloak and headed off to the main entrance of the castle. He used the map to make sure he didn't run into anyone, and he hurried his way outside of the grounds so he could apparate if he needed to.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on singling out Voldemort's magical signature. He gasped when he found it. The power Voldemort had was staggering. Harry knew Trent was plenty powerful, but now he was merged with Voldemort, Harry doubted whether if even Harremus, the fused form of Remus and Harry, had that much power.

He pushed this thought from his mind and focussed on seeing if Voldemort himself left on the raid. Harry knew the chances of Voldemort being able to sense Harry were slim, as Remus had told him how difficult Trent had found it to do that. Harry felt a smile form on his face as he followed Voldemort's energy signal to Leeds.

'Right, here goes nothing' Harry thought before apparating himself to near Riddle Manor.

* * *

Harry tugged on his robes and wished he'd thought about bringing a heavier cloak to wear while he was outside. It was the end of October, and the cool breeze easily pierced Harry's thin robe. He started to home in on the Dementors signal. This was made a bit more difficult as there weren't many people around them for the Dementors to suck the happiness out of, but he did sense just enough to get an idea of where a few of them were.

Just as he was about to make his way to where he felt the energy being drained from, Harry felt a sudden drop in temperature and started to hear his mother's screams in his mind. A Dementor must have snuck up behind him while he was looking for them.

'Why didn't I feel it?' Harry wondered before he scrunched up his face, drew his wand and focussed on the happiest memory he could think of. Harry thought of how happy he was when he was talking to the portrait of his parents in the Spirit Room.

"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted.

A silver mist shot out of his wand, which quickly formed into Harry's stag.

"Restrain it, but don't drive him off. I want to talk to it!" Harry told the stag who bowed in reply.

Harry then felt the coldness disappear and knew that his Patronus was providing the barrier so that Harry could think straight. He looked around, waiting for the familiar figure of Prongs to return and his heart stopped. A Dementor stood behind him, not more than ten feet away, with Harry's Patronus nowhere to be seen. Harry was rooted to the spot. He wanted to run or scream, but found his body was not responding.

A gruff otherworldly voice suddenly filled his mind, 'what do you offer me human?'

Harry might have fainted if his body had let him.

The Dementor spoke again 'I recognise your essence, human. I apologise for trying to take it from you what you would describe as three cycles ago.'

Harry was thoroughly confused and scared out of his wits. How in Merlin's name could a Dementor recognise him? And what did it mean by three cycles?

Harry's eyes widened as he realised what the Dementor meant, "you…you're the same one that tried to kiss me three years ago?"

'Yes I am.'

"Then why are you apologising? I thought you didn't care about who got in your way?"

'We were under orders not to take those who were innocent…'

"Then why were you after Sirius. He was innocent, yet that didn't stop you" Harry interrupted.

'We were under orders from another to do so. You however were truly innocent. Now, what did you want to discuss with me?'

Harry had regained some of his composure, but was still shocked at what was happening, "er…well I was kind of hoping to find out how you actually perform your Dementors kiss. I need it to beat Voldemort."

'Who is this Voldemort you speak of, human? I do not recognise his title.'

Harry was about to answer when he felt Voldemort's followers energy start to leave from Leeds. Harry realised that the raid must be over, and that Voldemort himself would be returning shortly.

"Darn, why now! I have to go."

He then looked at the Dementor and made a decision.

"Would you come with me? After all, you said you owed me for trying to take my soul. I need your help."

The Dementor stood in silence and Harry suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. He was about to apparate back to Hogwarts when the Dementor spoke.

'That is true. I do owe you a debt human. Very well, I shall follow you. Where do you want me to take you?'

"Er…I can apparate, but I didn't know that Dementors could."

'We have many abilities you are unaware of human. I will be able to take you wherever you desire.'

Harry hadn't been expecting that. He considered taking the Dementor to Hogwarts, but decided against it as a better idea formed in his mind.

"Oh. In that case, do you know where Godric's Hollow is?"

The Dementor fell silent once again before speaking. 'No I do not. You are correct. You will have to transport the both of us.'

Voldemort was going to be back at any moment now, so Harry grabbed the Dementor's arm and vanished with a 'crack'.

* * *

Harry arrived outside Marauder's Mansion and looked around to tell the Dementor how to enter but found it wasn't there. 'Great. What happened, where is it?' Harry thought.

"Fine, I'll do this my way. Lumos!"

Harry's wand lit up, and he looked around trying to make out where the Dementor had gone off to and found it gliding down the street. Harry ran after it and caught it up a short while later.

"Where are you off to? What'd you do that for?"

'I am sorry. This location seems familiar to me, although I cannot fathom a reason.'

Harry had no idea what the Dementor meant, nor did he care about it right now either.

"Right. Anyway I'd best get you inside. I'm not sure how people would cope if they saw me out here talking to someone they can't see."

'Very well human. We can discuss your terms once when you are ready.'

Harry nodded, before concentrating on the wards protecting Marauder's Mansion. He knew that while Professor Flitwick had changed the wards around Hogwarts, these ones didn't need to be changed. He grabbed the Dementor's arm and apparated into his bedroom. Harry cast some protective and silencing charms up so no one would know he was here. He could sense Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the house, and hoped they were sleeping.

"Er, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but would it be possible to talk about…my terms tomorrow? I really should be heading back."

'Back where, human?'

"Back to my school. I'll leave you my invisibility cloak. That way if anyone comes in, they won't see you. How come I didn't feel you until you were that close?"

'I did not want you to.'

Harry was confused, "but…what do you mean? I can sense Dementors by feeling them suck in our energy, plus the fact you make us all miserable. What do you mean that you didn't want me to know you were there?"

'We do not always need to activate our defences to travel around.'

Harry was stunned. He hadn't read anything like that about Dementors, but then again, Dumbledore did tell him that not much was known about them.

"Can I trust you not to…activate your defences if anyone comes in here before I come back?"

The Dementor was silent, and Harry hoped it was just thinking it over.

'Very well. I shall stay here until you return. If you do not by the next moonrise, I shall feed on those within this building.'

Harry slowly nodded in understanding. He had to come back before sunset tomorrow, or Ron's parents would be soulless.

Harry put the cloak over the Dementor before removing the charms around his bedroom and apparating back to Hogwarts.

* * *

As he stepped through into the common room, he wasn't surprised to find Hermione standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Harry Potter! Where _have_ you been? You said you wouldn't be long. Did you find Nick then?"

"Er, no I didn't. I had a close call with Filch and Mrs. Norris though, that's why I took so long in coming back" he lied.

"Fine. Well, we can't continue our study at this time of night. I'm going to bed, and we can do the study tomorrow, understood?"

Harry nodded his head vigorously in reply before heading to bed himself. 'Well, that was the strangest night I've had in a long time' he thought while he drifted off to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19 – Beyond The Black Cloak

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Just your normal everyday way to celebrate Halloween…and to spend it with someone who wanted to kiss you! I doubt Harry would like it though!

Oh, and the voice I had in mind for it…think Claw from the old Inspector Gadget cartoon: am I really _that_ old? Crikey! Or the Witch King from LOTR for something a little more…recent then! So, never fear ĐÄvE, I _do_ explain them!

Double oh, the speech will start to get a bit confusing now. Remember this; 'telepathic speech', "normal speech". Hope that straightens that out for you.

Cheers tramp3834 for the Quidditch tip. I think I used that once in Dormant…might use it again for my prequel. I believe it shall be a bit harder to write matches from a chaser point of view than a seeker (unless James was a seeker…_please_ say yes he was!)

From this chapter onwards, I'll have to add 'Monkey Island' to my warning list…and no that wasn't _me_ being telepathic! If you've played them all, you'll understand why.

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Beyond The Black Cloak**

Harry managed to convince Hermione to stop studying for their Potions NEWT just before lunch. After lunch Harry walked into Remus' office, telling his friends he just wanted to chat about his parents with him. But Harry had something else on his mind. He'd been thinking more about the Dementors, and was going to ask Remus for his help.

"Harry? Well I must say this is a surprise. What brings you to my office this fine Sunday afternoon?"

"I need your help, Remus."

"With what?" Remus asked.

"Once I get into Azkaban…"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Harry, we've already been over this. There is no way the Minis…"

"I have permission to enter Azkaban, Remus."

Remus looked incredulously, but before he could ask, Harry continued

"I wrote to Percy explaining why I needed to get in, and he signed all the forms and stuff for me. Please don't tell anyone though. I promised him I'd try to convince Ron and the others to forgive him if my idea works."

Remus bit his lip before replying, "very well. So you have access to Azkaban. Why do you need my help?"

"I need you to setup a room in Marauder's Mansion. An interrogation room basically. One we can keep a prisoner, and restrain them so they can't escape."

"We might be able to put some charms up, like anti-apparition wards for example. But how long would this prisoner be there for?"

"Hopefully not long" Harry said. "I just remembered. Would it be possible for me to go to Marauder's Mansion tonight? I left my invisibility cloak there during that meeting" he half-lied.

"Why do I get the feeling that you aren't telling me something, Harry?" Remus said, with an eyebrow raised.

Harry grinned before answering, "Remus John Lupin. Are you implying that _I_, the son of James Potter, leader of the Marauder's, am hiding something from you? I'm shocked!"

Remus scowled, "and since you know Occlumency, I can't read your mind right now either! Very well, you may go to the mansion to get your cloak. Oh, wait a moment. Molly and Arthur are there. They could send it back for you."

"I'd rather get it myself, Remus. No offence, but I'd like to get it right now. That way Hermione can't drag me off to do more Potions study for the NEWT's!"

Remus laughed, "ok Harry. You have my permission to go. And I'll see what I can do about one of those spare rooms."

Harry thanked Remus before making his way back to his dorm to grab his trunk. After he emptied its contents into the one of Trent's, he then left again to the apparition point outside of Hogwarts.

* * *

"Harry dear! What are you doing here?"

"Hi Mrs. Weasley. I left my cloak here during that last meeting. And I might as well take some more stuff from my room. Didn't Remus tell you via floo? He gave me permission to come here."

"No, he didn't say anything. How's your year been so far?"

"Busy. Hermione's got me already studying for the NEWT's. Ron doesn't need to yet because we're going over Potions. Anyway, I'd best get going. I'll try not to be too long."

Mrs. Weasley nodded and Harry made his way back up to his bedroom. Upon entering, he put up the same charms as last night before looking around for the Dementor.

"Alright, I'm back. Can I please have my cloak back?"

'You certainly can human.'

Harry looked over, saw his cloak shimmer to the floor and the black-cloaked figure of the Dementor could be seen. Harry enlarged his trunk, and put the cloak in before turning back to face the Dementor.

"Right. Sorry about last night. I think I've learnt more about Dementors in the little while we talked, than all the stuff I've read in books."

Harry eyes suddenly widened as he realised something. "You're telepathic aren't you" he blurted out. "It's the only explanation for the way you can make us relive our worst memories."

'Yes, we are. You are quite correct in your hypothesis, human.'

"How did you recognise me though? I wouldn't have thought you were capable of anything like that."

'All essences are different. I can recall what yours was like, and made the assumption that you were the same human whose essence I attempted to transfer what you would describe as three cycles ago.'

Harry was now even more confused, and voiced his thoughts out loud. "So…you're basically saying that…you remembered me by what my soul felt like when we met three years ago?"

'Yes, that is correct, human' the Dementor replied.

"What exactly does my soul feel like? Could you instantly recognise it, or did it take some time?" Harry asked.

'Your essence is rather simple to distinguish human. You have seen much displeasure in your life. I could easily tell this by your lack of contented thoughts.'

Harry mumbled something along the lines of "you're right there. I haven't led the happiest life in recent memory" and was startled when the Dementor replied

'I realise that human. You did not have many pleasant thoughts back then, and you contain only slightly more now. What do you intend to offer me?'

Harry was confused. "Er what do you mean? I thought you said that you owed me."

'I have paid my debt to you by being here with you, and not performing my essence displacement on you. I am quite starved. I have not been taken on any missions by my current master. Unless you offer me something in return, I see no reason for me not to feed on you and those in this building.'

Harry's eyes widened in realisation, "you mean Voldemort, your master, hasn't taken you on any raids! I find that hard to believe. I thought he'd just let you roam wherever you like."

'As did the rest of us, human. He has not kept his promise with all of us. My master is not able to distinguish easily between us, but he does not allow all of us out at one time. You are avoiding the issue though human. I ask again, what do you offer me?'

Harry thought quickly and asked the most obvious question he could think of, "er, are there any souls that you particularly like? Is there any difference between someone who has led a happy life, and someone who hasn't?"

The Dementor nodded his head once, 'yes there is. We feed on pleasant memories, but those humans who have led dissatisfying lives have more exhilarating essences. Or so I am led to believe.'

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, feeling quite confused.

'I have not yet performed my essence displacement on any human or other living creature. My colleagues inform me that essences are more desirable to us when the human does not have many contented memories, similar to yourself.'

Harry was starting to feel a little more nervous than he was before. "Are you saying…that the soul of someone who has done nothing but lead a life of pain, _tastes_ better than someone who has led a happy life?"

'I believe so. But as I said, I cannot prove that theory…'

"Because you haven't done it yet. I heard that, but still don't really believe it. If I offer you the soul of someone who has suffered, would that er…please you?"

'It would.'

"Would you be able to tell me how the Dementors kiss, that's what we call your essence displacement, works? I need to know how to recreate it."

'Why would you desire to do that, human?'

Harry looked a little hesitant before responding "I…er, need it to defeat your current master. He wants to kill me, and I don't really want that to happen."

The Dementor said nothing for quite some time, and Harry again hoped it was thinking it over.

'That is an interesting proposal human. You desire to defeat my current master with our own technique. Why can you not use your methods?'

Harry sighed. "It's quite complicated. The short answer is that I can't beat him using our magic, nor any other more normal means. I need to find something else."

The Dementor fell silent again. Harry was starting to get desperate. If this didn't work, he would have no ideas left at how to beat Voldemort and fulfil the prophecy.

Finally, the Dementor spoke again 'I see. Yours is a strange request human. You are unlike any of my previous masters. You desire to learn our ways. I may be tempted if you can offer more.'

"Like what exactly?" Harry asked somewhat warily.

'My current master and his colleagues. They have very little contentedness within them. Myself and my colleagues desire their essences. Would you offer us that, human?'

Harry's mouth opened slightly in amazement, "are you saying you want me to promise you Voldemort's Death Eaters souls, in return for working with you?"

'You are wise human. That would be an extremely tempting offer.'

Harry blinked rather quickly. "Is…is this what Voldemort offered you?"

'No, our master only offered us ordinary essences. Your offer would be increasingly more desirable to myself and my colleagues.'

Harry was stunned. This Dementor was offering Harry his services in return for the souls of Death Eaters. He weighed up his options. On one hand, Harry might be able to sway the Dementors to stay out of the fight. On the other, if Harry refused, he would most likely have his soul sucked out. Harry felt that the decision was a no-brainer.

"I will offer you what you want, in return for you to get your colleagues to stop following Voldemort."

Once again, the Dementor was silent. Harry was starting to get even more nervous until it spoke,

'I agree to your terms little master. I shall attempt to persuade my colleagues. They most likely will not follow you, but they may stop serving our present master at least until we see which one of you is the more commanding.'

Harry was now totally confused, "what do you mean by that?"

'We will need evidence that you are able to offer us that which you speak. I have accepted your terms, but my colleagues will need further evidence that you are superior to our current master.'

"Oh" Harry said as he understood. The Dementors wanted to know if Harry was stronger than his rival before picking a side to be on. Harry felt this was a better situation than the current one. At least this way, those fighting against Voldemort wouldn't have to worry about the Dementors.

"Very well. I will also accept your offer. Do you have a name?"

'Name? What do you mean, little master?'

Harry sighed, "my name is Harry. It's what other humans call me. What do your colleagues call you?"

'We do not have titles little master. We see no need for it.'

"Oh. In that case, can I call you Bob?"


	20. Chapter 20 – The Ghost And The Centaur

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island (told you I'd add it!) and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

So Harry's named 'his' Dementor. Nice simple name too…even if his role isn't! Everything to do with the Dementor is just my thoughts, and I don't remember how I even thought it up in the first place! I can only hope you can understand everything once it's done.

Reckon you can guess what I have planned yet? Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. I read every single one, and as I said in ch 1, I will thank each of you in my epilogue.

* * *

**Chapter 20 – The Ghost And The Centaur**

Remus was sitting across from Harry with a stunned look on his face. He finally regained his ability to speak

"You…are you sure, Harry?"

Harry sighed, "yes Remus, I'm positive. Voldemort's power level is 42 million. Not even our fused form can come close to matching that!"

"Well, it looks like we've both got some serious training to do over the Christmas break then, doesn't it" Remus mused.

"Yeah I know. And on top of that, I've got that Quidditch game chucked in around then too."

"Good point. But that's only one day, right?"

Harry nodded so Remus continued "so we'll still have a few days up our sleeve. We should be able to train much harder now that we both can transform."

"Yes, we will. And nor should we go easy on each other while we're training" Harry added and Remus agreed.

Remus then informed Harry that he'd made a start on one of the rooms at Marauder's Mansion, and that Professor Flitwick would help him with the charms. Remus hoped it would be ready by the middle of December. Harry looked a little disappointed at this, as he was hoping to put 'Bob the Dementor' in there so no one would know that a Dementor was currently in the mansion.

In fact, Bob was proving to be a great help to Harry already. He had told Harry that the Patronus actually does hurt them. Harry was stunned at this, and informed Bob that all the books about the Patronus charm said it was only used to drive Dementors away, they didn't say anything about actually wounding them.

Bob was also able to contact his colleagues from where he was at the mansion through his telepathic abilities. Harry was a little relieved at this, as it would save both he and Bob various trips back and forth while discussions took place. Harry asked Bob if he could contact him, Harry, that way as well, but the Dementor informed Harry that he couldn't, he was only able to contact his fellow Dementors and no one else. Harry needed to be present for Bob to communicate with him.

Harry hadn't yet told anyone about Bob, but he decided to tell Remus once the room in the mansion was ready. Remus knew about Harry being able to access Azkaban, and agreed to come with Harry when the time was right. Harry had to be careful when explaining why he wanted Remus with him, as one wrong move, and Remus would know about Bob.

Remus had asked Harry why he wanted to move a prisoner into the mansion if he didn't know any information about the legend Dumbledore had mentioned. Harry shrugged this off by saying he wanted to ask Nearly-headless Nick if he knew anything about it. Remus, like Hermione, had told Harry that it was an excellent idea, and would make sure to ask Nick if he saw him before Harry.

Harry exited Remus' office, after Remus told him that Firenze wanted to meet with him next Saturday morning at ten o'clock. Remus didn't know what it was about, so Harry headed back to his dorm trying to think why Firenze would want to meet with him for. When he arrived back, he found Ron and Hermione making a start on their Charms homework.

Professor Flitwick had begun to teach the class how to modify spells and their assignment was to come up with a spell that they'd like to modify and why. Ron had chosen to do 'Protego', the shield charm, and Hermione picked the disarming spell, 'Expelliarmus'. Harry initially was going to see if he could modify one of the Unforgivables, but Professor Flitwick had suggested he pick something less dangerous. So instead, Harry decided to do the stunning charm, 'Stupefy'.

"How are you going to change that, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I want to make it so that not just anyone can revive someone. If I can somehow figure out a way to make it that only the caster can remove the effects, think how much it'll help in the war."

"That's a great idea Harry. I'm going to try to modify the disarming charm so that 'Protego' won't block it."

"What about you Ron, what do you want your modified shield to do?"

"I'm trying to see if I can somehow get it to always rebound spells back onto the caster, instead of just flying off at any angle. I can't believe you wanted to modify one of the Unforgivables, Harry."

"I just wanted to see if there was someway that all of them could be blocked, Ron, even the Killing curse. But Flitwick said to pick something else, so I have."

Ron shook his head and the three of them then scratched away at their parchment in silence finishing off the assignment for tomorrow's class.

* * *

Saturday morning dawned and as Harry, Ron and Hermione were making their way to breakfast, a familiar figure was floating along in front of them. 

"Hey Nick! Can we talk to you for a bit please?" Harry asked after catching up with the Gryffindor ghost.

"Certainly Harry. What is it you would like to talk about?"

"It would be easier if we went someplace private, Sir Nicholas" Hermione said.

The ghost nodded and followed the trio into an empty classroom. Harry locked the door while Hermione put up some charms so no one could eavesdrop.

"Alright Nick. This may seem a strange request, but can you remember everything that's happened here since you became a ghost?" Harry asked.

Nick looked a little stunned at the question, but answered "most of it. I mean, trying to remember _everything_ in the last 500 years isn't an easy task."

"Do you know anything about a spell that could destroy someone's soul? Dumbledore told Harry about a legend when he attended Hogwarts as a student" Hermione enquired.

Nick was silent for a while and Harry was starting to lose hope.

"Why yes, I do remember that legend. No record of it was kept…"

"Do you know why?" Ron interrupted

Nick nodded, "of course. No record of it was kept, as those that cast it turned into the first Dementors."

Harry and Hermione looked at Ron who was shocked.

"Wow Ron. It looks like you were right! Did the spell have a name, Nick?" Harry asked.

Again Nick was silent for quite some time. "It was something like 'Annihilatius Corum' I think. At least, that's what it translated into. I believe the spell was Egyptian based. Why do you ask?"

"We think it may be the only way to beat Voldemort" Harry answered, and Nick nodded in understanding.

"I see. Well, that is all I know about that spell. I wish you all the best in trying to find anything more out about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must get going."

With that, Nick floated through the wall and into the hallway.

"Well. At least we know it existed" Harry said as the three of them made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

* * *

Harry was at the door of his old Divination classroom, the one Firenze had used during the later stages of Harry's fifth year. He still couldn't come up with a single reason why Firenze had requested his company. 

He pushed open the door and walked in. As Harry looked around, he couldn't help but notice that Firenze hadn't seemed to change anything about the room. It still felt like being in a forest, and the stars of the night sky could be clearly seen. Harry was brought from his thoughts when he was addressed.

"Harry Potter. A pleasure to meet you once again."

"Hello Firenze. Remus told me you wanted to see me" Harry answered.

"Indeed I do Harry Potter. The final battle is due to take place soon…"

"Next April, I know. A spy informed me" Harry interrupted.

Firenze looked impressed, "indeed. You have been busy preparing for this battle then. You believe to know all of your enemies' forces. You shall not survive, Harry Potter. Your numbers are too few."

"But we've put a system in place to get more people…" Harry began

"Yet they will not arrive in time. These Aurors of yours will take time to get to your aid. And once they do, it shall be too late."

"Then why are you telling me this then, Firenze?"

Firenze smiled before answering, "you need more fighters, Harry Potter."

The centaur then fell silent and Harry was starting to become annoyed.

"You mentioned that before. Why are you telling me that we won't survive long enough for the Aurors to come? And if you're so sure about it, then where are we going to get additional help from?"

"I never said the battle will be over by that time. I am saying that you shall fall before then. You shall be betrayed, Harry Potter."

Harry looked shocked, and Firenze continued "do not fear, there is still time. Those you have asked, except one, will be on your side, and you shall have additional help from those you don't expect."

"You er, don't know who it will be, do you?"

"I am afraid not, Harry Potter. But as I said, you will get additional help."

"Who will help us then?" Harry asked, becoming somewhat confused.

"There are those who live in the forest."

Harry's brow furrowed as he tried to think about what Firenze meant.

"Hagrid's already trying to get the spiders to help us…"

"You are forgetting my brothers, Harry Potter."

"Bu…but they fight for nothing but themselves. They even threw you out for helping us remember!"

"We have decided to come to your aid, Harry Potter" a new voice cut through the room.

Harry turned around and was too stunned for words. Bane trotted over to where Firenze was standing and began to talk

"It seems this war shall affect us also. We were too hasty in our decision before. My brother was right to save you that night six years ago. We will be happy to fight alongside you to protect our brethren."

Harry finally managed to regain his voice and asked "wh…why Bane? Why are you doing this? Wouldn't you have foreseen this before now?"

Bane smiled, "perhaps, but the stars never lie. We saw the darkness triumph over the light, and the world plunge into shadow. My fellow elders have decided to help you in your fight to prevent this."

Firenze took over, "you see, Harry Potter. We may not like to associate with your kind, but we prefer our relative peace and quiet than to be slaughtered like the beasts your enemy believe we are."


	21. Chapter 21 – A Dangerous Game

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

So Ron's right, mainly because I wanted him to be! Will Harry find enough info about the spell in time, and can he modify it so HE doesn't turn into a Dementor?

Oh, and those who know me from IMDb might recognise one of my sigs once they read it in this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 21 – A Dangerous Game**

Harry was still stunned as he made his way from his meeting with Firenze and Bane. He soon found himself outside Snape's office. 'How the heck did I end up here?' Harry thought before the door opened and Snape himself stood in the doorway.

"Potter! What do you think you're doing here?" he asked, and Harry noted the surprise in his voice.

Harry shifted uncomfortably on his feet, wondering if he should ask Snape about something that had bothered him the night Voldemort returned to power. He sighed and made his choice

"Professor, can I ask you something?"

"What is it Potter. I do have other classes to prepare" Snape retorted.

"When Vol…he came back that night in the graveyard, the Death Eaters appeared. There was a large gap in the circle, and he explained most of them away by saying they'd been killed. But there were three that weren't."

Snape looked into Harry's eyes and spoke in a dangerous tone

"What are you implying, Potter. Are you doubting me _again_? Because we've already been…"

"That will depend, Professor. He said there was one too cowardly to return and that he must pay. One who had left him forever who he will kill, and the other was his most faithful servant and had re-entered his service" Harry cut in.

"And you would like to know which I am Potter, is that correct?"

Harry nodded, and Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Very well Potter. I am the second one you mentioned. The Dark Lord found this out in your first year when I made the mistake of threatening the incompetent Quirrell. I was unaware that he had been taken over by the Dark Lord himself, and so thought nothing of…"

"I thought you'd say that Professor, good day."

Harry then started to walk off before Snape called after him "what are you playing at, Potter? Was there a point to this nice little _chat_ of yours at all?"

Harry turned around and chuckled, "I get the feeling that had I asked Karkaroff that same question, he would have arrived at the same answer."

"I doubt it Potter. Igor was killed in mid-August. You could hardly ask him that question now" Snape snorted.

Harry was startled, he didn't know about that. As he remembered what happened with Crouch, and the fact he'd lost his soul to a Dementor, Harry couldn't help but think 'two down, one to go'.

He looked up at Snape before smirking, "there wasn't really a point to this Professor. I just know that someone will betray me. And I can assure you, that if it's you, I'll see to it personally _before_ the battle begins."

Harry then watched Snape's eyes carefully, and noted the confusion in them. He then turned and left his bewildered Potions Professor as he walked down the corridor.

* * *

Harry made his way to Remus' office. He didn't bother knocking and walked inside while Remus looked at him with a surprised look on his face. 

"Harry, what's wrong?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, Remus. I need to talk with someone…"

"I'm always here, Harry" Remus interrupted.

Harry smiled, "I know that. But I fancy a chat with your younger self if you get my drift, no offence." 'And after what Firenze said, I don't know who I can trust right now' Harry thought.

"It'll have to wait until tomorrow I'm afraid, Harry. What do you need to chat to them about anyway?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just want to get to know all of you better when you were around my age, that's all" Harry lied.

Remus smiled, "if you don't want to tell me, Harry, you could've just said, you know."

"Perhaps, but why spoil the fun, Remus? Tell me, what would've Sirius said?"

Remus chuckled, "alright, you've got me there. We can leave tomorrow morning, is after breakfast alright with you?"

"Yeah, that should be fine. No Quidditch of course, pity really. I'll need to practice for the qualifier over Christmas. I can hardly believe that I'll be playing against professionals."

"Well believe it, Harry. Your father and mother would be so proud of you. You should ask James for any tips tomorrow."

Harry grinned. "Yeah I can picture his advice now. 'Just catch the darn snitch son. As a chaser I didn't care what the seeker was doing!'"

Remus joined in laughing with Harry before Harry told him everything Nearly-headless Nick had said during their brief chat.

* * *

Harry waited until Remus left him alone with the portrait before Sirius broke the silence. 

"So Pronglet, you're back. I thought you'd have been sick of us by now!"

"Oh be quiet Sirius, or I'll neuter you" Harry replied.

"You can't do that to me. I'm a portrait, remember" his Godfather answered with a smug look on his face.

"Really? When your portrait was done, they hadn't yet come up with the Wolfsbane potion. How do you know if I can't force you into your animagus form, despite you being a portrait hmm?" Harry casually remarked.

"Nice one, Harry" Remus said with a grin while Sirius' eyes widened in shock before glaring at his friend.

"Shut up, Moony. I wasn't the one who always howled at the moon every month!"

"And I'm not the one who got drunk before relie…"

"As much as I'm enjoying listening to this, I'm sure Harry's not here for a social visit" Peter interrupted, trying his best not to laugh, unlike James, who was having to use Lily for support from keeling over.

"I don't think I really want to know about that. But Peter's right, I need to talk to you, all of you" Harry began, trying to ignore whatever Remus was reminding Sirius about.

"What about, Harry?" Lily asked.

"You know most of what's going to happen right, about our forces and stuff right?"

Those in the portrait all nodded in agreement.

"Good. Tell me this then. Has anyone been acting a little…off recently?"

"Define _off_, Pronglet" Sirius answered.

"How about I give you the explanation then. I know someone will betray me during the final battle. Has anyone been acting strange, someone who you felt it was out of character for?"

"It has to be old Snivellus. He'd do…" James began, and as Lily was about to start yelling, Harry cut her off

"No, it's not Snape. Anyone else?"

"How do you know it's not him, Harry?" Peter asked.

"I just know. There was no lie in his eyes when I had a similar conversation with him."

"Yeah, Moony told us about your chat with him. Mighty impressed someone doubted his allegiances…" Sirius started

"I had another one with him later. That's how I know it won't be him" Harry interrupted.

"That Weasley guy…what's his name. He just joined the Order, the twins always make fun of…"

"You mean Percy, James. I agree, he seems too…withdrawn" Lily replied.

"Anyone else? I need to know who I can trust. What about Ron, or even Remus?" Harry asked after a long silence while he was processing the new information.

"You can trust Moony, son, don't worry about that…"

"We trusted Peter though, James. And looked what happened there. No offence, Peter."

"None taken, Lily. Besides, when this portrait was done, I hadn't even considered changing sides. I wonder why I did?"

"You wanted power. You wanted to become like James, Sirius and Remus. Mind you, Remus and Sirius mentioned that you'd been passing information about Mum and Dad for around a year before Voldemort murdered them. He must have offered you that shortly after this portrait was done."

"How do you know all that, Harry?" Remus asked.

Harry looked at the Remus in the portrait before his eyes moved over to Peter, "you told me yourself, when I had you under Veritaserum. It would explain why it took so long for Voldemort to come after me. I mean, there were only two people the prophecy could've applied to. Why'd it take him over a year to track down both me and Neville?"

"That's a good point Pronglet. Did Frank and Alice go into hiding as well?"

"I don't know, Sirius. I could ask Neville, his grandmother might know" Harry answered.

Harry then looked at his watch and noted that Remus would be back to pick him up in around fifteen minutes.

"Anyway, thanks for your help guys. Remember not to tell anyone about this though, not even Remus."

"Tell anyone what Pronglet?" Sirius casually remarked

"No idea what you're on about son" James continued

"Are you still here Harry? I thought you left ages…" Peter began

"Right, right. I get it you lot! Thanks again" Harry chuckled before leaving the Mansion to wait outside for Remus.

As Harry was waiting, he was struck with an idea. He apparated into his bedroom and found Bob gliding around the room. Harry moved over to his bedside table and removed two vials of potion from the bottom drawer.

'Greetings little master. What brings you here?'

"Actually, I was kind of hoping if you wouldn't mind me moving you to a different location."

'Very well. Where is it you would like to proceed to?'

"Grimmauld Place. Do you know where it is?"

'I do not. Again you shall need to transport us both little master.'

"We'd better be quick. Remus will be waiting for me soon."

'He is your elder comrade is he not? You have mentioned his title before.'

"Yeah, he was one of my Dad's best friends. Anyway, he'll be coming back soon, so I'll take us both now."

Bob glided over to Harry and outstretched his skeletal arm. Harry grabbed it and apparated to Grimmauld Place in a flash of orange light.

* * *

"Harry, where have you been? I've been waiting for nearly half an hour." 

"Sorry Remus. I just had to grab something from my room before we go, that's all."

"Alright then, ready to go back now?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, but not to Hogwarts. I want to swing by Azkaban first."

To say Remus looked shocked would be an understatement. "Wh…but Harry, the charms on the room haven't been finished yet!"

"Then we'll make sure to grab someone who can't apparate, and drop them off at Grimmauld Place. I need someone to experiment on, Remus."

"What are you talking about? You aren't going to cast that spell on someone, Harry. We don't want another Dementor running around!" Remus remarked, confused by Harry's request.

"Quite right Remus, one is more than enough" Harry smirked as he saw the astounded look on the older wizard's face.

"You…please tell me you didn't!" Remus exclaimed as a look of realisation dawned on his face.

"If you mean find the true origins of the soul destroying spell, no I haven't."

Remus looked relieved until Harry continued,

"However, if you meant whether I captured a Dementor, then yes I did."

Remus would have liked to ask some more questions, but Harry grabbed him and apparated them both to Azkaban Prison.


	22. Chapter 22 – Not Just An Ordinary Kiss

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I like the idea of a bored Dementor, I mean what DO they do all day! And since Voldemort (from Trent) can't sense Harry (suppressed his power enough to not get a 'lock' on it), he doesn't have to worry about anyone attacking Grimmauld Place…or does he (I wish you could see my smirk right now!)?

Heh, I always have fun when writing stuff with the portrait. Oh yes, never fear! I do have the scene that Remus was reminding Sirius about...it'll be in my prequel!

Yes, I have completed another one-shot; 'Uncanny Resemblance', the talk Harry and Remus would have about the Easter battle from Dormant...well what _I_ have them talking about!

ĐÄvE and SongOfStars…GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! And you _so_ know why, lol!

Glad you can picture his face, data! I was going for a cross between the he-didn't-say-what-I-think-he-said-did-he look and the one I had on my face last year. When my boss called me into his office and told me I had been fired. He then gave me a letter…which happened to be my pay raise. He laughed and told me how he wished he had a camera!

Don't worry benwa, I haven't forgotten about Hermione…she joins in a few chapters time. Like Harry, she didn't see the point in joining straight away…she's been too busy studying for the NEWT's!

* * *

**Chapter 22 – Not Just An Ordinary Kiss**

"Are you sure you want to do this, Harry. Remember you'll probably only get this one chance. You wouldn't believe how many strings have been pulled to even get this far."

Harry sighed, "I would believe it, Remus. Remember I was the one who asked Percy to sign all the forms. I know what you're going to say; the Ministry don't know about this, they wouldn't approve of a Dementor kissing someone who hasn't yet been given a trial, blah, blah, blah. Believe me I only intend to do this once. Besides we've got some Veritaserum, so we'll pick someone who really is guilty."

"Remind me again why I'm here? I don't see any reason for it" Remus asked.

Harry sighed again before answering "I need you to sense how our Dementor does the kiss. I know you can feel things with your wolfish instincts, and I'm hoping you can pick up anything I miss."

"Right. I still can't believe how you managed to capture one, let alone restrain it."

Harry smirked in reply "magic my dear Remus, magic."

Remus shook his head saying that Harry had better explain it to him later, which Harry agreed to before opening the door to a cell. The occupant cowered in the corner of his cell before glancing up at the two approaching men. Remus, with his heightened senses could smell the fear and anxiety exuding from the prisoner. If it wasn't for the fact that Harry brought a vial of Veritaserum and another of its antidote, Remus would almost feel sorry for the unlucky person chosen for Harry's 'experiment'.

The man looked terrible. His face was scarred and his eyes gave the impression that he was much older than he really was. His clothes were ripped and torn, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in quite some time. Remus shuddered as he remembered that Sirius had spent twelve years in this place. He still couldn't imagine how he'd done it, despite Sirius telling him how he transformed into Padfoot when it got too much for him. Remus saw Harry withdraw the vial of Veritaserum from his robes before administering some of it to the prisoner.

"Full name?"

"Roger Michael Hammond."

"Date of birth?"

"March 4, 1968."

"Are you guilty of what you're here for?"

"Yes I am."

Harry gave Remus a smile before asking his final question. "Can you apparate legally or even at all in fact?"

"No, I never took my test. Nor can I apparate, I never learnt how to."

"Right that's good enough for me. Here drink this" Harry said and held out another vial.

Roger took it and swallowed the antidote before looking at Harry in shock.

"Wh…what are you going to do to me!"

"Don't worry. You've just volunteered to participate in an experiment" Harry replied grinning maliciously before stunning him.

Remus suddenly felt very sorry for Roger as the three of them vanished from Azkaban in a bright flash of orange light.

* * *

After Roger had been restrained in one of the empty bedrooms at Grimmauld Place, Harry began telling Remus about how he met Bob. Once he'd finished, Remus was nearly speechless. 

"You…how…that's just…Harry, what are you going to do with the Dementor after it sucks out Roger's soul? I mean we don't need it after that."

"Er, it's not that simple, Remus. To nick him from Voldemort, I had to use some persuasion. You see, he sort of owed me a favour."

"Owed you? What are you talking about? How in Merlin's name could a Dementor owe _anyone_ anything?"

"This isn't just any Dementor, Remus. I've met him before. He's the one that nearly kissed me back in third year. He actually remembered me."

Remus was stunned, "and…and how do you know all this? They can't talk can they?"

"No they can't. But they are telepathic. After all, how else can they project all those horrible memories we have to go through whenever we get near them? In actual fact, they're kind of like us. They also have emotions, and can even be killed."

Remus looked thunderstruck before replying "WHAT! But that's impossible! No one has _ever_ managed to kill a Dementor!"

"That's because we don't know how. He told me how they can feel the effects of the Patronus, and how it does actually cause them pain. If we could somehow adjust it, we might find a way to destroy them."

Remus just stood there with his mouth slightly open in shock. He recovered quickly and spoke, "well Harry, congratulations. It looks like you've ended up with a pet Dementor!"

"He's not my pet! He's an acquaintance. And a darn useful one at that. I don't think anyone knows it, but they are surprisingly intelligent. He's actually agreed to try and turn the rest of them against Voldemort. That doesn't mean they'll help us, but they'll most likely end up being neutral. After all, they're not too fussed about whose soul they take, but most prefer Dark wizards. The negativity they have sort of…excites them I guess."

Remus just shook his head before speaking again

"Let's just take stock here, Harry. You infiltrate Voldemort's lair, which was very stupid of you I might add, while he was off raiding. You then meet the same Dementor that tried to destroy your soul three years ago and convince it to follow you. Then you somehow manage to get it to cooperate with you and try to make the rest of them neutral. Next, you'll be telling me that they make you feel happy and calm!"

"Actually they can do that too. Thanks for reminding me, Remus!" Harry grinned and Remus put his head in his hands.

"This isn't a time for jokes Harry, I'm being serious here!"

"Funny, I always thought you were Remus, not Sirius. But I'm not joking. They can well…swap between making you feel cold and miserable to being normal. Basically they can also act like anti-Dementors."

Remus looked shocked. "Then why don't you just ask it how they suck the soul out of someone then? That would've been easier than grabbing Roger from Azkaban."

"Yes it would've. But this particular Dementor hasn't sucked the soul out of anyone before, so he doesn't know how it works either. He just knows that it's his biggest weapon. It's kind of like when I was little. I didn't realise I was doing magic until Hagrid came and picked me up after I turned eleven" Harry countered.

"So it's a _he_ now, how quaint. Well, is _he_ a juvenile Dementor then? A young one?" Remus asked, becoming both increasingly sceptical and confused.

"Er…no idea, he might be. Why don't you go and ask him, Remus" Harry smirked and Remus' eyes widened in shock.

"I think I'll pass, Harry. He's your pet, not mine."

"I already told you he's not my pet, alright! Let's just do this. Bob's getting a tad tetchy."

Remus was thoroughly confused now, "Bob? His name's Roger, Harry."

"I meant my Dementor, Remus" Harry grinned in reply.

Remus buried his head in his hands, "oh Merlin, you've _named_ him! I don't believe this!"

Remus continued to mutter to himself while Harry went to fetch 'Bob the Dementor'.

* * *

"That was disgusting" Remus said with his face a nice shade of green. 

Harry nodded quickly, his own face still pale. "I agree. I've heard before that the Dementor's kiss is one of the most horrible things to witness, and I can believe it! Answers the question of what's beneath a Dementor's hood!"

"WHAT! I could hardly watch as I was too busy making sure I didn't throw up! I couldn't sense anything though, how about you?"

"Nothing unusual. We'd better see if Bob can tell us anything. I'll take Roger back to Azkaban first. We don't need him anymore, but we shouldn't kill him. This way, Voldemort will get the blame for it" Harry said before grabbing onto Roger and vanishing in a bright orange light, only to return moments later.

As they were walking to where Bob was located, Remus started talking again.

"I never thought I'd ever be in the same room as a Dementor…"

"His name's Bob" Harry interrupted amid glares from Remus.

"…and not be scared out of my wits. I tell you this is NOT normal, Harry!"

Harry just laughed before replying "welcome to my world, Remus. Nothing is normal. Hasn't been for a few years now."

"But how do you know that you can trust him?"

"Because he trusts me, Remus. He can communicate telepathically with us, and we can talk to him. You're here because you'll probably ask better questions than me."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I only want to ask him how the kiss works. You'll probably want to ask him more about how he can help us or something. Besides, you should be able to understand him better than me anyway. His choice of words can sometimes be hard for me to follow."

Remus looked at Harry in confusion but didn't say anything. They both stepped into the room where Harry had put the Dementor in. Remus expected to instantly feel the familiar chill that surrounds such a creature, and was quite surprised when he didn't feel any change at all. He looked at Harry and saw a distinct I-told-you-so look on his face.

Remus gave him a wry smile, "only you could possibly befriend a Dementor, Harry. So what do we do now, how do we know if he can hear us?"

'I can hear you human.'

Remus stopped dead in his tracks as a scratchy ethereal voice filled the room.

"Oh" was all Remus could say.

Harry rolled his eyes and slowly clapped his hands. "Wonderful reply Remus. I think I did the exact same thing first time too. Actually no I lie, I just stood there in stunned silence. Hi Bob."

The Dementor turned and faced Harry. 'Greetings little master. So this is this Remus human you have mentioned before.'

He then turned towards Remus before continuing, 'he is not a true human, what are you?'

Remus' eyes went wide in surprise and he managed to croak out "I…I'm a werewolf, but don't have to transform anymore. How…how could you tell I wasn't fully human?"

'I know more than you think, werewolf. I can sense a divided essence within you.'

"Mine and the wolf's. That's incredible. You're right, Harry. They are far more intelligent than we think."

'Thank you, werewolf. You are every bit as kind as my new master speaks.'

"I wish you wouldn't call me that Bob. I'm not your master, and nor should anyone be."

'You call me Bob, I call you my master. You are here to learn of the essence displacement correct.'

"If you mean what we call the Dementors kiss, then yes you're right" Remus said, still amazed at what was happening.

The black cloaked figure then glided over to where Harry and Remus were standing. Remus was amazed at how graceful a Dementor moved as he'd never been close enough to see one properly. He was even more amazed when the Dementor turned to him.

'You are surprised werewolf? I am aware of your thoughts. I am not human either and cannot move like you do. I know not of my species origin. In fact, I remember nothing before what you humans describe as sixteen cycles.'

Harry was stunned. "You mean you are only sixteen years old? No wonder you haven't taken any souls before. I'm only seventeen myself actually."

Remus was struck by a sudden idea, "Harry, do you remember all the stories about what happened the night your parents were attacked?" he quickly asked.

"Er, not really. I tend to try to forget most of them."

"Ok, let me tell you the simple version then. Voldemort was on his quest of trying to become immortal. He almost managed it as he survived the rebound of his own Killing curse. But we don't know what happened directly after that. Trent said he went to Godric's Hollow the moment he felt Voldemort's energy signal disappear, remember?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah I remember Trent telling us that. But I don't see how any of this is relevant…"

"No one knows what happened to Voldemort. Trent didn't say anything about feeling Voldemort's spirit, or whatever he was, after that. He said he came once he felt it disappear. What if, like Trent, Bob here was spawned from _that_ night sixteen years ago..."

"Like Trent was created when Tom Riddle became Voldemort" Harry nodded again as he realised what Remus was trying to say.

'This Voldemort fellow. He was my master before you. I could feel something within him that seemed familiar. If what you say is genuine, it might be possible for that event to have been my creation.'

"You didn't call him a human, why was that?" Harry asked.

'He is not fully human either. Yes he has an essence, but he is much different from any human I have sensed before.'

Harry looked a little bewildered, but decided to leave that matter alone for the moment.

"What did you feel when you er…did your…essence displacement?" Harry asked.

'Not much that would help you, little master. All I felt was the same sensations that you would normally feel when around me. I felt the fear of my victim, and then an exhilaration once I had completed the essence transfer. It might be better to discuss this with one of my colleagues.'

"I'd rather not! No offence, but your colleagues tend to scare people a bit" Remus shuddered slightly in response.

Harry then asked something that had been bothering him since the night he had apparated to Voldemort's and met Bob. "How quickly can you change from being like you are now, to what we used to guard Azkaban with?"

No sooner had Harry asked this, the temperature of the room instantly dropped, and Harry began to hear the screams of his mother before it stopped just as quickly.

'Forgive me little master. I am unable to remind myself how badly I can affect you. But I believe that answers your question, does it not?'

"Quite" Remus said with wide eyes before Harry recovered and spoke up

"Do you need to…have that…er, activated before you can remove someone's soul?"

'I do not believe so. We only use it to increase your fear of us, thus making your essence more desirable.'

Harry then cracked a smile the likes of which Remus had only seen on Sirius or James after they'd pranked Snape.

"What is it, Harry?" he asked somewhat warily.

Harry turned to Remus still grinning stupidly.

"I think we've found our hitman, Remus."

"Hitman? What is that?" Remus asked, thoroughly confused by Harry's abrupt change in emotions.

"Muggle term. A hitman is someone hired to kill someone else for you. Bob, would you be able to sneak up behind Voldemort when I'm fighting with him and suck his soul out?"

'I might be able to. But I would most likely be seen beforehand…'

"Don't worry, we'll work something out. You could borrow my invisibility cloak. That way no one will see you, but you'll have to be careful that it doesn't slide off."

"But Harry, that won't kill him. Remember, Voldemort would still exist, just without his soul."

Harry grinned again "which means I'll be able to fulfil the prophecy with a swish of Gryffindor's sword."

Remus was somewhat baffled, "why _that_ sword? Why not just use one of the ones Trent gave you?"

"Because Voldemort's the heir of Slytherin. How symbolic would it be for Gryffindor to defeat Slytherin one final time?"

Remus had to admit that Harry made a good point.

"But if Bob was spawned from Voldemort like we believe, then how do you know that Bob won't turn _into_ Voldemort, like what happened to Trent?" Remus asked.

'You must find a way to destroy me as well. That silver charm hurts us. You will need to readjust it.'

Remus and Harry stood there in silence before Remus spoke next, "right. So we need to modify one of the most powerful spells ever known. Great!"

Harry glared, "Remus, since when did you become so cynical! Besides, I already told you we might have to modify the Patronus charm."

Remus shrugged in reply before answering "I became so cynical probably around the time Sirius escaped from Azkaban. We should get started on this though, Harry. Modifying it won't be easy."

Harry agreed. "Maybe Professor Flitwick could help us. We're going over modifying charms in class, I was going to do 'Stupefy', but I'll ask him if I can change it."

Remus nodded in approval before the two of them bade Bob farewell and began their trip back to Hogwarts.


	23. Chapter 23 – Intruder Alert

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Not sure if JKR wrote it in one of her books, but I remember Severus saying in the movie that the Dementor's kiss is nearly unbearable to witness. 'Wrap up very nicely' hey Tux. There's a few chapters to go though…still time for me to _attempt_ to surprise you people! I _do_ know you won't be expecting at least one thing that happens in the battle!

Pet Dementor…grrr! Was it really _that_ predictable? I like that idea though too! I haven't read any stories that go into depth with them either, legions…but it did give me quite a bit of room to create if that makes sense. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to give a Dementor a personality!

Another explanation; I have just found out that we do not know the eye colour of one Remus Lupin. I gave him brown eyes to match in with the idea of him being a chocolate addict!

* * *

**Chapter 23 – Intruder Alert**

It was early December before Harry had the chance to talk to Professor Flitwick. He made his way up to the front of the room after Charms class had finished.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. How may I help you?"

"Er, would it be possible for you to help me modify a spell, Professor?"

Professor Flitwick looked thoughtful for a moment before answering "You know the rules, Mr. Potter. It must be your own work…"

"I didn't mean that. I want to choose another spell" Harry interrupted.

"Oh, which one did you want to change it to? Because your idea of modifying Stupefy was rather ingenious."

"This could be far more important though. I want to modify the Patronus charm."

Harry might have found the sight of his Charms Professor fainting funny, if the situation had been somewhat different.

* * *

Harry had just finished telling his friends about his idea of modifying the Patronus to destroy the Dementors. Again, he neglected to inform them of the real reason why he wanted this to work."You mean you made Flitwick _faint_! That's wicked!" 

"No it isn't, Ron. Did he say he could help, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded, "yeah. He said he should be able to help over Christmas. Looks like we'll be going back to the Spirit Room again."

"I'd love to come with you Harry, but I promised my parents that I'd spend the whole Christmas break with them this year" Hermione replied.

"Same here mate. But Fred and George asked me and Ginny if we'd like to help out in the shop over Christmas."

"That's right! Thanks for reminding me, Ron!" Ginny exclaimed.

Ron nearly snorted, "how could you forget? They've sent us letters nearly every ruddy day for the past two weeks!"

"But I've just gotten used to ignoring them" the younger redhead replied.

Harry decided to interrupt. "That's alright. Remus is going to come, so we can get some serious training in."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Are you sure he's really that powerful now?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "yes Ron! Now that Voldemort and Trent are one, his power is phenomenal."

"Well then, Harry. It looks like you've got your work cut out trying to find a way to beat him then, doesn't it."

"Gee, really. Thanks for reminding me Hermione. I've got a few ideas left, and I just hope one of them works."

The others nodded at Harry as they made they way to the last prefect meeting before the Christmas break.

* * *

"You know what. I reckon these meetings are a waste of time. I mean, we're not going to find out anything that the Professors don't know about are we" Ron said as Harry, Hermione, Ginny and himself were walking back from their meeting.

"Well, you never know, Ron" Harry said.

"I can't believe Malfoy's still prefect. Talk about ridiculous!"

Harry was about to argue, but then remembered his promise of not giving away Malfoy's secret, so he just bit his lip while Ginny and Hermione agreed with Ron.

"Yes, he is rather annoying I agree. What do you think Harry?"

"Er, well…he's not _that_ bad, Hermione."

The other three stopped and looked at Harry as if he was crazy, so Harry quickly explained.

"Compared to Voldemort, Malfoy's easy to deal with."

"Oh, right. Thought you'd lost it for a minute mate!" Ron teased.

"Gee, thanks Ron!" Harry said before he shot his friend a grin which Ron returned.

Harry and Hermione turned off before Gryffindor tower to head instead to the Head Students dorm. Harry decided to go to bed, while Hermione stayed up to finish off her History of Magic homework. Harry had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't quite right. The last time he'd felt like this, Peter had turned up at the Dursley's impersonating Harry's Uncle. He grabbed the Marauder's map from his trunk and spoke the password.

As his eyes scanned the parchment, he was shocked with what he saw. There were three dots that shouldn't be there. Lucius Malfoy, Augustus Rookwood and Walden Macnair were making their way into the secret passage of the statue of the one-eyed witch. But that wasn't only thing that caught Harry's eye. There was also the fact that the dot labelled 'Severus Snape' was with them. Harry grabbed the map and his invisibility cloak before he quickly walked into the common room.

Hermione looked up as he entered, "I thought you were going to bed, Harry?"

"I was, but I just felt that something was wrong, and look at this!" he replied as he shoved the map onto the table. Hermione's eyes widened as they rested on the spot that Harry was pointing at.

"Bu…how did they get it without anyone noticing? Why didn't the alarms go off?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe they aren't here to attack anyo…" Harry's voice tailed off as he suddenly realised why they were here.

"Oh no! They've come for _him_!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Hermione asked, thoroughly confused.

"There's no time to explain, Hermione! We have to follow them right now! I'll tell you on the way."

Hermione nodded and after she made sure she had her wand (Harry always had his in his wrist holster, and never let it leave his sight), Harry grabbed the map and the two of them exited the common room heading off to the statue of the one-eyed witch. Harry explained what he had told Snape about the Death Eater's returning, and about how Voldemort answered why there was the large gap in the circle. Hermione's mouth was slightly agape as Harry then told her about what Voldemort had said about those three followers who hadn't yet been killed.

"Crouch got his soul sucked that very night I came back with Cedric's body. So that's two of them. Snape told me that Karkaroff got killed earlier this year. So, guess who's the last one."

"But how do you know that Snape isn't one of the other ones Voldemort mentioned?"

"I just know. He's the one who's left Voldemort forever. And now Voldemort's decided to kill him."

Hermione just nodded as Harry continued to check the map. Malfoy, Rookwood and Macnair were no longer on the map, and Harry assumed they must have apparated somewhere. Harry stopped just outside the statue and turned to Hermione.

"You should stay here, Hermione. Warn McGonagall about what's happ..."

"No Harry. I'm not going to leave you to fend for yourself against who knows how many Death Eaters…"

"And one more person isn't going to make a difference!"

"How do you know it isn't a trick by Voldemort to get you to show yourself to him, Harry? I'm coming as well!"

"Darn it Hermione! This is no time to argue! They haven't taken him to where Voldemort is. They've taken him to Malfoy Manor!"

"But you don't know your way around there..."

"Quite right, but I _do_ know where they're keeping Snape. I can sense him remember. If you come along, that'll only be helping them."

Hermione glared at Harry before reluctantly agreeing, "fine. I'll stay here and tell McGonagall what's going on. Just…be careful, Harry."

Harry nodded, "I will, I promise. Dissendium."

The statue opened and Harry disappeared into the tunnel.

* * *

Harry slipped on his cloak before concentrating on Snape's magical signature. Once he found it, he then checked to see how many people were around him. Harry was a little surprised to see that no one was, and used that moment to apparate into the night leaving an orange light behind him.

He looked around and got his bearings. He was in an unused room somewhere in Malfoy Manor. He found Snape bound to a chair, unconscious. Before he could go over and untie him, the door opened and Lucius Malfoy sauntered over to where Snape was. Harry froze to the spot, despite having his invisibility cloak on.

"Enervate."

Snape opened his eyes and glanced around the room.

"So glad we finally caught up with you, Severus. The Dark Lord was most upset when he learned of your _allegiances_. Tell me, what did the old fool offer you?" Lucius smirked.

"That's none of your business, Lucius" Snape spat.

Lucius sighed, and then spoke "that's not what the Dark Lord seems to think. Do you know why you're here?"

"I have a feeling I do. Potter told me about the night the Dark Lord returned."

"Did he now? How very interesting. The Dark Lord was most displeased when Potter escaped. Is it true about the brat's transformation?"

"I know of no such transformation Potter has undergone."

"I know you're lying, Severus. Even though you're a master at Occlumency, I can still see the lie in your eyes. But enough talking, we're here to do a job for the Dark Lord."

Harry had heard enough, and slowly drew his wand before carefully making his way behind the older Malfoy.

He flung off his cloak and shouted "Stupefy!"

Harry's spell hit the target, and Lucius was sent flying across the room where he hit the wall with a sickening crunch.

Snape looked at Harry in disbelief as the young wizard released him from his bindings.

"You shouldn't have done that, Potter. More will come" Snape said after Harry helped him up.

"Then we'd best head back now then. Sorry about this, but this will take us straight back to Hogwarts" Harry replied as he picked up his invisibility cloak.

Harry then quickly explained how his watch worked before grabbing Snape. As he was activating the apparition mode of his watch, voices could be heard from the other side of the door. Harry had just enough time to see the shocked look on Rookwood's and Macnair's faces as they opened the door before he and Snape vanished back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Snape looked around at his maroon and gold surroundings and for a brief moment wished he was still stunned and tied up in Malfoy Manor. Once he'd recovered from the fact they'd arrived back into the Head Students quarters, Snape turned and faced Harry.

"How did you know what was going on?"

"The map, Professor. It never lies, and I saw those three going out of one of the secret passages with you" Harry answered.

At that moment Hermione chose to return to her dorm and stood in shock at the portrait entrance.

"How…when…Harry, you're back! Professor McGonagall wants to speak with you tomorrow, Harry."

"And I shall inform her about what happened, Miss Granger. Goodnight" Snape said before making his way to the exit.

Just before he left, Harry heard Snape say "thank you, Potter. I shall endeavour to repay you for this."


	24. Chapter 24 – Immortality

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

A bit more about Severus for you. And my theory why Voldemort survived his own killing curse. Oh, and why did Harry apologise? Apparating the head of Slytherin back into someplace with Gryffindor colours…not such a wise move!

In that case, Tainted13, you will both like and hate what I have in store if your profile is anything to go by! I ah, take it that you've read a fair few stories where Severus is playing the Light side as fools then.

* * *

**Chapter 24 – Immortality**

Harry was waiting outside Snape's office for his detention. Professor McGonagall had informed Harry at breakfast that morning that Snape had managed to convince her to let him, Snape, give Harry a detention for his actions. Harry was a little stunned at this fact, considering Snape had said that he'd try to repay Harry for saving his life. But he would soon know that Snape had an ulterior motive for overseeing Harry's detention.

"Potter. Get in here" Snape snarled as he opened the door.

Harry followed him inside, and Snape offered him a seat across from his desk after locking the door and placing a silencing charm around the room.

"Alright Potter. Now tell me why you did what you did last night" he said after Harry was seated.

"But…what has that got to do with my detention?" Harry asked.

Snape raised an eyebrow before answering, "who said you were going to be given a detention? I merely suggested to the Headmistress to let me deal with you. Now, answer my first question."

Harry was confused. He thought Snape would hate him for what he did, after all he hated his father for doing a similar thing some twenty years earlier.

"Er, I don't really know sir. I guess…I just knew you were telling the truth."

It was Snape's turn to be confused as he asked "what are you talking about, Potter?"

"When I told you that someone would betray me. I could see the confusion in your eyes, and knew that you were the one who's left Vol…his service for good."

"But what made you look at that map when you did?"

Harry shrugged, "same reason I wanted to pack all my stuff up the night Peter showed up at my Aunt and Uncle's place. I could just feel that something was wrong."

"You really are just like your father, Potter."

Harry inwardly swore as Snape said this. He knew what was coming. Harry knew Snape was going to tell him how his father always broke the rules, and how arrogant he was.

"I never got the opportunity to repay your father for saving me both times."

That took Harry totally by surprise. He blinked rapidly before asking something he'd wanted to ask when Snape told Remus and Harry a little about himself in the Room of Requirement that night.

"How come Sirius never mentioned anything about wanting to kill you that night in the Shrieking Shack when Remus was first teaching here?"

"Dumbledore memory-charmed both Black and your father. He didn't want either of them knowing that I was a Death Eater. I know what you want to ask me Potter, so I'll just tell you why I switched sides."

Harry sat up straighter. He had wanted to know this since his fourth year when Karkaroff had told the then Head of the Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, that Snape was a Death Eater. He found this out from looking in Dumbledore's pensieve.

"Dumbledore offered me protection. He said that if I became a spy, he would do his best to clear me of all previous charges I would have been accountable for. Igor Karkaroff was caught and put on trial after the fall of the Dark Lord. He didn't get put in Azkaban as he decided to list the names of those he knew were Death Eaters."

"And Dumbledore managed to get you off?" Harry asked. He knew this part of the story of course and wanted to know _why_ Snape changed sides, not _how_.

Snape nodded, "he did. And because the Dark Lord was gone, the Dark Mark wasn't visible, so Igor couldn't prove anything."

"But why did you switch sides? I don't find _protection_ enough of a reason to turn spy."

"You are quite correct, Potter. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be enough of a reason, but you are forgetting what I mentioned during our first little _chat_. About me not being given a choice by my father. Once I found out what was expected of me as a Death Eater, I was looking for any way out that I could find."

"But why? Remus and Sirius both said you loved the Dark Arts…"

Snape cut him off, "there is only so much one can handle, Potter. I have seen many terrible things, far worse than the Easter battle. You have no idea what it was like until you stopped the Dark Lord."

The two of them sat in silence until Harry had a thought about something he and Remus briefly discussed the day Harry introduced Bob to Remus.

"Do you know how he did it?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Did what, Potter?" Snape replied with confusion.

"What measures did Vol…he take to try to become immortal?"

If Snape hadn't been expecting Harry to ask that, he didn't show it when he answered "that is something he never told anyone, Potter. Not even his closest followers. There is no combination of Potions or Dark Arts that I know of that would have achieved that."

Harry thought about what Remus had suggested about Bob being spawned from Voldemort the night he murdered Harry's parents. "What about modifying a spell?"

Snape sighed, "I just told you that, Potter. There is no spell that even remotely…"

"Have you ever heard of a spell called 'Annihilatius Corum' before? It's used to destroy someone's soul."

Harry saw his Professor's eyes widen in shock before Snape quickly recovered.

"No. That is only a legend, Potter."

"I've been told otherwise, Professor. Nearly-headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, told me about it. And since he's been dead for over 500 years…"

"I have heard about it before, Potter. All knowledge of it must have been lost or destroyed" his Professor interrupted.

"Nick said it's translated from Egyptian. He said that's how the first Dementors came into existence."

Snape sat up straighter in his chair. "Indeed. How intriguing, Potter. It is possible to modify a spell, but only if you have the origins of it. The Dark Lord did search everywhere, trying to find out how to become immortal. Since Dementors cannot be killed, he may have managed to find the true origins of this spell you speak of."

"And modify it so he kept his soul, while at the same time making sure he would be immortal."

Snape curled his lip in reply. "That is quite a speculation, Potter. As interesting as this is, I believe you have served enough time in your detention. I shall be taking twenty points from Gryffindor for you leaving the grounds without permission."

Harry nodded in understanding, and stood up to leave. He reached the door and was about to open it when Snape spoke again,

"And I shall grant you fifty, for saving my life. Good night, Potter."

Harry stood in shock before eventually making his way back to his dorm. As he stumbled into his bed, he couldn't help but think whether that had been the first time Snape had ever _given_ another house any points.

* * *

The holiday's soon arrived, and Harry had managed to convince Remus to get one final muggle sparring session in before they left for the Spirit Room to begin their training in a couple days time. 

Remus had transformed one of the spare rooms of Marauder's Mansion into a training room, and the pair began their session by circling one another at a relatively slow pace.

"Well maybe Dumbledore had a point, Harry. You are a very strong individual. You'll beat Voldemort, if not for anything else but to prove to everyone that you can" Remus said as he aimed a kick at Harry.

"You might be right" Harry answered as he easily dodged Remus' attack

"I'm always right!" Remus replied with a smirk.

"But I still can't get it out of my head that Dumbledore would so readily dismiss telling me the truth just because I was too young."

The next half an hour was spent sparring in many different styles using hands, feet, and swords. Their battle lasted for a further fifteen minutes before they were interrupted by Ron.

"Harry, lunch is rea…Harry! Where'd you learn all that?"

Harry didn't falter. In fact, it was Remus who slightly hesitated before making his move. The short lapse in concentration though was enough for Harry to gain the upper hand. He successfully knocked his Professor to the ground without disarming him.

"Ignore any distractions, Remus" was all Harry said before resuming his original stance.

Remus nodded, got up from the ground and continued much the same as before.

Harry then spoke to Ron, "it is not considered polite to interrupt those engaged in the middle of a sword fight. Now shut up and wait, Ron!" his pace and fighting patterns not wavering in the slightest.

He heard his best friend splutter in disbelief behind him "bu…but you're just sparring! I'm hardly interrupting…"

"I have never beaten Remus before thank you, Ron. And I DON'T want any distractions!" Harry cut in, and Ron fell silent.

Harry and Remus were circling one another again, looking directly into each others eyes. Harry then casually smiled and launched into a full-scale attack on Remus. The older wizard was disarmed in two moves and on the ground with Harry's foot on his chest by the third.

"That was..." Remus breathed. "Ron's right. Where did you learn techniques like that!"

Harry grinned down at the man before removing his foot from Remus' chest and offering a hand in assistance. Remus took the hand and was pulled to his feet.

"I read, Remus. That and watch television. You'd be amazed how much martial arts stuff Trent has on muggle videos. They were just a couple of moves I picked up after watching 'Highlander'. Oh, and that now makes thirty-three to _one_!" Harry grinned, and Remus could only shake his head in reply.


	25. Chapter 25 – A Simple Solution?

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

I don't really like 'Highlander'…but I'll admit there are some really good moves in them (sword moves anyway). Besides, I couldn't think of a better movie when I wrote that bit! And also one that was actually released before '97.

Oi, stop knocking Remus, Pleione or I'll sic him on you, lol! Cheers krazy, here's the next chapter.

Oh and why 'Annihilatius Corum'? Simple really; Annihilate Core. Probably the most original spell name I have created in my stories!

* * *

**Chapter 25 – A Simple Solution?**

Harry had given everyone who stayed at Marauder's Mansion (and Hermione, who was at her parents house) tickets to attend his first International Quidditch game for Christmas. In return, he had received another sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and books and chocolates from everyone else.

Harry wanted to go to the Spirit Room a few days before the game, and Remus had convinced Flitwick to come with them. Harry had told Remus what he had discussed with Snape during his detention, and Remus looked thoughtful before saying he would look further into their hypothesis. The Charms Professor had just arrived and noticed Harry waiting in the living room

"Where are we going, Mr. Potter?" he asked.

"To the Spirit Room, Professor. We'll be able to get much more work done there, than we can here. Time passes so differently, that a day here, is actually a year in the Spirit Room" Harry replied.

Remus came downstairs into the living room and put his trunk on the floor. "Alright Harry. We're ready so we might as well go now."

The young wizard shook his head, "not yet, Remus. I just want to check on Bob first."

Before Professor Flitwick could even ask, Harry disappeared in a flash of orange.

Harry arrived at the familiar site of Grimmauld Place before heading to the room the Dementor was in, and opened the door.

'Greetings, little master. I have so far been unable to convince my colleagues to accept your terms, but that is not why you are here is it.'

Harry smiled, "well, sort of. Thanks for letting me know. Keep trying, even if it's just to get them to not fight until they see who is the stronger between me and Voldemort. I just wanted to let you know that we'll be working on the modified Patronus, the silver charm, over the holidays, and hopefully we'll be able to come up with something. Actually, it might be easier to bring you along as well. I have some interesting developments you might like to know about."

Bob agreed, and Harry told him that he'd be back to pick him up. He then apparated to Marauder's Mansion and before Remus or Professor Flitwick could say anything Harry spoke up

"Alright, Bob's coming with us. So if you're packed, I'll take you to where he is now."

Remus looked dubious. "Harry, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Er, there's only one way to find out, Remus. I have some information that may help us greatly about Voldemort. And it's best if Bob's there with us."

"Who is this Bob person you keep mentioning, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, he's just Harry's new pet, Filius. Nothing to worry about" Remus replied, despite the glare Harry sent him.

"Very well. We are both packed, so whenever you're ready" the Charms Professor answered.

Harry nodded, then apparated the three of them to Grimmauld Place. Before Flitwick could even register the shock that Harry's 'pet' was in fact a Dementor, Harry took them all to the Spirit Room.

* * *

No sooner had they arrived and dropped their trunks off, Harry got straight to business, despite Flitwick still standing open-jawed at the sight of a real Dementor. 

"Alright then Bob, exactly what do you feel when the Patronus comes near you?" Harry asked.

'I have already told you little master. I feel pain. No matter how I try, I cannot stop myself from feeding on it instead of you. You have told me this spell is created from very contented memories, and I am led to believe it is because of this, that I feel pain.'

"You don't like to feed on happy memories, you much prefer horrible ones? That goes against everything we know about Dementors, Harry" Remus started.

'That is incorrect werewolf. We do like to feed on contented memories, but it is because they are so concentrated within such a small space, that it hurts us.'

"So you basically overdose on our happiest memories then?" Harry asked.

Bob nodded once in reply 'I believe that is correct little master.'

"Alright then. Harry told me about his conversation with Severus and this is what we can gather. It seems Voldemort was able to find out about the soul-destroying spell that created the first Dementors. He modified it so he was able to keep his soul, but knew he would be practically immortal as no one has ever managed to destroy a Dementor before" Remus began.

"Sixteen years ago, he came to Godric's Hollow, killed my parents and tried to do the same with me, but his spell backfired. Since he was basically a Dementor, he couldn't be killed. The spell somehow ripped his spirit from his body, along with the modifications he made to the original Dementor spell" Harry continued.

"Without those modifications, this particular Dementor was created. Voldemort's spirit drifted around gathering strength from Trent's own energy to survive. At the end of the triwizard tournament, he returned to his full power, using Harry's own blood, but without being immortal" Remus finished.

Professor Flitwick looked stunned. When he recovered, he managed to say "that's quite a hypothesis. I myself am unaware of any such spell..."

"Nearly-headless Nick isn't though. He's the Gryffindor ghost and has been dead for 500 years. He told us that it was how the Dementors came into being. He didn't know the exact spell, but said it translated into 'Annihilatius Corum' from Egyptian" Harry interrupted.

"My, you both have seemed to have thought this through very thoroughly indeed" the tiny Charms Professor said.

Bob was silent for a long time and Harry was starting to get a little impatient with the Dementor.

Bob turned towards him, 'do not be hasty little master. I am merely trying to establish whether this hypothesis is correct. I may need to discuss this with my colleagues. But for now, I shall assume it is correct as it answers my own question of why that first location you took me to was familiar.'

"First location?" Remus asked, with a disapproving glance towards Harry.

Harry nodded. "The mansion, Remus. That was the real reason I wanted that room done. Anway, we now need a way to destroy Voldemort for good. It's already been established that only I can achieve this. I'm unable to use the Killing curse, and muggle means are out of the question since Trent was brilliant at martial arts and sword fighting. That leaves the only option as removing his soul."

"But if we believe that you, Bob, are in fact Voldemort's…shadow, I guess, we need to find out how to destroy you as well so Voldemort can't return again" Remus added.

Professor Flitwick suddenly spoke up, "if what your Dementor says is true Mr. Potter, then it may be easier than I expected."

Harry, Remus and Bob all looked at the Charms Professor before he continued

"A Patronus is formed using the happiest memory a wizard or witch can conjure. It has always been that way because Dementors make us relive our worst memories. In short, action and reaction. Dementors use our bad memories to incapacitate us, so we use happy thoughts to counter it."

"But how does that help us to modify it, Professor?" Harry asked.

"I shall ask Professor Vector, Mr. Potter. We will need to find the origins of the Patronus charm…"

"That's why we're here in this place, Filius. We'll be able to find the origins of it, don't worry."

"It's also in Sirius' book too, Remus" Harry added.

Remus nodded, "true, we have the origins. That means we can work on the modifications. Filius, please continue your thoughts."

Flitwick nodded and spoke again "very well. Once we establish the new charm, we will need to know how to channel its power. What wand movements, pronunciation, and thoughts will be needed for it to work…"

"But if we're basing it on the Patronus charm, can't we just use that as the start and sort of…I don't know, tweak it a little bit?" Harry interrupted.

Flitwick nodded. "Precisely, Mr. Potter. What we need to do, is to recreate the Patronus charm in such a way, that the concentration of happy thoughts are significantly multiplied."

Harry was deep in thought, and it was Bob who answered next.

'That will not work.'

Harry, Remus and Professor Flitwick all turned towards the Dementor.

"Why not, Bob?" Remus asked.

'Because my little master does not contain enough contented thoughts within him to allow such an increase in concentration.'

Harry looked ready to argue, but Bob hadn't finished

'This is a rare case where I believe his lack of contented memories will be of greater use.'

Remus looked shocked. "What! Are…are you saying that we should base the modification on hate and anger instead?"

"Of course! It's so simple!" Harry suddenly exclaimed.

"What is, Mr. Potter?"

"Dementors feed on our happy thoughts, but prefer wizards' souls who have led miserable lives. The Patronus is a concentration of happy memories as you've already said. If instead of flooding them with happiness, what will happen if we flood them with hate?"

'We will be unable to stop ourselves from feeding on those thoughts. Eventually we would absorb more than our capacity and detonate' Bob answered.

Harry nodded. "Exactly. You won't be able to help yourself and you'll explode."

"You might be onto something there, Mr. Potter. Any suggestions for an incantation?" Professor Flitwick asked.

Remus smiled, "how about 'Expecto Reducium'? That is what you want to do isn't it Harry, reduce Voldemort to nothingness?"

Harry smiled back and nodded in reply.

* * *

The three wizards had spent nearly six months modifying the Patronus charm. Harry had been quite frustrated about the length of time they'd spent on it, but Professor Flitwick had told Harry, that because of the unusual nature of the Patronus, it was always going to take a very thorough investigation. The whole process of modifying a spell was based around knowing the origins of it. Once that knowledge was found, one could then go about breaking each section of the spell down into four parts; the incantation, the wand movements, what the caster needs to be feeling to produce the spell, and of course, what the modification of the spell is meant to do. 

Their first attempt at recreating the Patronus charm had not gone quite so well. Harry knew what he had to do, but had been unable to stop himself from saying 'Patronum' instead of 'Reducium', which Remus took great delight in reminding Harry about constantly. Once Harry had got the incantation right, he had found it easier to use than the Patronus. Bob had informed Harry that it was most likely due to the fact that Harry hadn't led an overly happy life, which the two Professors agreed with.

Harry had finally convinced both Professors to let him try the new spell out on his Boggart, as Bob was still needed for the negotiations with the other Dementors. Harry was standing some distance away from Remus, who was standing by a locked trunk.

"Alright Harry. Let's try this again, and try not to say 'Patronum' this time" Remus said with a grin and Harry glared back before starting to concentrate.

Harry closed his eyes and focussed on his anger. He raised his Occlumency shields and remembered how he felt during his fifth year, when no one would tell him anything of importance. How it was because of this that Sirius was no longer alive. Harry concentrated on how angry he was in Dumbledore's office after returning from that night in the Ministry. He could also feel his general hatred of Voldemort killing his parents coming to the surface as he opened his eyes.

Harry nodded at Remus who opened the trunk that was holding a Boggart. The familiar chill of a Dementor was felt, and the creature started to glide towards Harry.

"EXPECTO REDUCIUM!" Harry yelled.

Instead of the familiar silver mist, a deep red haze exploded from Harry's wand. It quickly assumed the form of Harry's stag which then charged over to where the Boggart-Dementor was. The scarlet form of Prongs speared his antlers into the creature, which let out a ghostly howl before exploding in a shower of red sparks.

Prongs then trotted back to Harry who was standing there in shock, before bowing his head and dissipating in a flash of red light.

Harry looked over to his Professors, both of whom were just standing there with their mouths hanging open.

Remus recovered first and managed to say "well. I ah…it looks like it works, Harry."

Harry could only nod in reply, still astounded with what had just happened.


	26. Chapter 26 – A Missed Opportunity

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

So now you know what Harry wants to do; get his Dementor to give Voldemort the kiss, then destroy both of them; simple right? How could that _possibly_ go wrong…where's a decent evil grin icon when you need one!

Debated about what colour to make the modified spell and decided on red over green. Trust me when I say it was quite a close run thing though!

How did I come up with Bob? I'll (try to) answer that for you in the epilogue, Pleione (and Banisher). Was going to save this for the final chapter, but I may as well put it up now: any questions about any of my fics thus far (I mean legit questions, not stuff like 'did you know your grammar sucks?' Believe me, I already _do_ know that it does) that you would like me to answer, ask and I shall do my best to do so in my epilogue.

A bit more battle action for you. Oh, and yes I've done yet another one-shot, this time from Sirius' point of view the night the Potters died.

* * *

**Chapter 26 – A Missed Opportunity**

The rest of their time in the Spirit Room passed, with Harry mainly getting duelling practice against both Remus and his Charms Professor. Despite his size, Professor Flitwick had proved to be more than match for Harry. The first time they duelled, Harry didn't know whether or not he should go easy on his Professor. But after Flitwick had comfortably disarmed him within five minutes, Harry decided to go all out, without having to transform (Harry only saved that for when he and Remus battled each other).

Harry had the upper hand during their next duel, but Flitwick used the solar burst charm, Solaris Burstan, and temporarily blinded Harry and again he was disarmed easily. Flitwick then taught Harry how to do the charm, and told him that it was only useful for distracting your opponent, whether to make a quick escape or to get the upper hand.

Harry's battles against Remus were much more intense now that both of them could fully transform. Harry was fitter but Remus knew more spells, so their duels lasted for quite some time before either of them could gain an advantage over the other. They had both managed to boost their power levels, Remus to 19.8 million while Harry could peak at 22.7 million.

Harry had also gotten a lot of work done for his studies, as he had two of his Professors to help him when he got stuck. All but two of Harry's classes hadn't taught them anything new yet, but instead concentrated on everything they'd learnt over the last six years. The two exceptions were Duelling and Wandless Magic.

The Duelling classes had been starting to get far more interesting, as Remus and Snape had decided it was time to start testing the students against multiple opponents. Harry had been looking forward to this, since he knew how to do wandless magic, and also use his left hand for spells. Harry was able to hold his own against a maximum of three opponents, but only when facing students.

He had tried to duel against Remus and Snape, but had been hopelessly outmatched. Remus had been surprised at this, and he figured out that Harry was in fact holding back in the classes. He then encouraged Harry not to, as any injuries he inflicted could easily be fixed by Madam Pomfrey. Harry argued that he didn't want anyone finding out how powerful he was, and would only fight full strength against Remus, and at the final battle.

Dobby's Wandless Magic classes were also going quite well. All five students could now produce most first and second year spells and even a few third year ones, and the respect Dobby was gaining from the rest of the class was growing. Unlike last year, where all of the students felt the class was a waste of time, everyone was looking forward to the New Year when Dobby announced that he would be teaching them how to cast some first year spells without incantations.

Since the modified Patronus charm had been a success, Harry had told Bob to tell the other Dementors about it. Bob had asked why, and Harry had answered that if Bob's colleagues knew that Harry had the power to destroy them, they might be more easily swayed. Bob had agreed with this, and had said it would be one of the first things he would discuss with his colleagues when they arrived back at Grimmauld Place. Little did they know of what was about to happen when they arrived back.

* * *

Fred was walking back from getting some lunch for himself and the others. They had kept their promise to Harry and hadn't marketed glowing robes, but despite this, their business was booming. It seemed that Harry's response that people would want to have some laughs now that Voldemort was back had indeed come true.

Fred was nearly back to Wealsey's Wizarding Wheezes, when several wizards and witches ran past him in the opposite direction. He bumped into one of them, and helped the man up.

"Sorry about that. If I were you though, I'd be leaving from here right now!"

Fred looked confused, "why, what's going on?"

The man looked at Fred like he was crazy and shook his head before replying, "Death Eaters are here. Best floo someplace safe. They've put up anti-apparition wards."

Fred was shocked, but didn't have much time to recover as the man then ran off in the direction he had been running in before Fred knocked him down. Fred then ran into their shop to inform his siblings of what was happening.

* * *

Harry and the others (excluding Bob, who they'd dropped off at Grimmauld Place) had just arrived back when the fire burst into life and the face of one of the twins could be seen.

"Guys, we have a problem. Death Eaters have arrived in Diagon Alley. They've setup anti-apparition wards so the Aurors will take a while to turn up."

"Then what are you still doing there! Is your twin brother alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"And what about Ron and Ginny!" Harry exclaimed, "are they alright?"

"Look, as far as I know, Ron and Ginny were helping George in the shop while I went off to get lunch. We drew straws to see who would help fight, and who would call you guys. Obviously, I lost…"

"Don't say it like that, Fred. The Order will be on their way right away! Those wards could be a bit of a problem though" Mr. Weasley interrupted.

"I can…"

"No, Harry. You stay here. You're still tired from our last training session."

"And you're not! Remus, listen. I can break through those wards. I can take everyone there, then head to the Ministry and get the Aurors. _Don't_ tell me what I can and can't do!"

Remus glared at Harry, and bit his lip. "Fine. But I don't want you fighting…"

"I'm not leaving my friends there without helping them, Remus! Hell, I'll even break my rule about not transforming until the final battle if I have to!"

"But Harry, remember your Quidditch match is scheduled in three days time…"

"This is more important than Quidditch, Remus. And our arguing isn't helping those in Diagon Alley any either! Let's go."

Remus sighed but nodded. He then motioned for everyone who was coming to help, to grab onto each other. Once this was done, Harry then took Remus' hand, and apparated the group to Diagon Alley.

Harry dropped the group off in the twins' shop, then headed to the Ministry to see if any Aurors were still there. He got told at the front desk that all the Aurors had left ten minutes earlier. Harry nodded before apparating back to Diagon Alley to help out.

He found Remus and the others fighting just across from the twins' shop, so Harry decided to keep out of view, and watch their backs in case any Death Eaters came up behind them. After about five minutes of waiting, Harry had decided he'd had enough and fired a few stunners from the shop to try and catch the Death Eaters off guard. His plan worked, and the Order was able to stun the rest while Harry made his way over from his spot inside the shop.

Fred grinned at him when he saw him, "about time you came back, Harry. Nice shot by the way."

"Thanks Fred. Any sign of the rest?"

"Not yet. We just agreed to help out where we could. For all I know, they may have flooed somewhere."

"I doubt it Fred. They're Gryffindors remember. We never know when to quit!" Harry grinned.

The redhead grinned back, then the two of them followed the rest of the Order down the pathway to help the smaller groups fight the Death Eaters off.

* * *

"Maybe we should split up and help the other groups."

"No way, Ron. Remember what happened when we did just that at the Ministry two years ago? I think it'll be easier if we stay together. Stupefy!"

Another Death Eater fell as Ginny, Ron and George were hiding in an abandoned shop, taking potshots at any Death Eaters that ran past them.

"Nice one Ginny! You reckon Fred was able to get the Order here?"

"I hope so George. Harry and Lupin in particular. I wonder if Harry will transform, I know he said he'd wait until the final battle, but I hope he does. This would be over way quicker. I wonder why they'd attack here anyway?"

"No idea Ron. Let's just hope the others turn up soon. Rictusempra!"

Yet another Death Eater went tumbling down from George's spell.

"It looks like that might be the last of them. I think I can make out Fred and Dad up there."

"Hey, you're right George! Looks like they could use a bit of help too" Ginny said after looking at where George was pointing.

Ron and George nodded and the three of them went to exit the shop. They didn't notice the group of three Death Eaters waiting outside, just out of sight.

* * *

"Is that George?"

Harry whipped his head around to where Remus was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah. Looks like Ron and Ginny are with him too. I wonder how long they've…RON!"

Fred and Remus both shouted the same word the same time Harry did. The Death Eaters that were hiding stunned Ron, as he was the last one out of the shop.

Remus looked over at Harry and shouted "NO! Harry, wait!" but he was too late.

Harry let out a roar and transformed. He raced over to where George and Ginny were trying to hold off the three remaining Death Eaters.

"Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" Harry shouted as he came within range to help them.

The spells missed their intended targets, and once they saw Harry, one of them did the solar burst charm. When Harry could next see, the Death Eaters were gone. Harry looked over to where Ron was, and saw Ginny was helping him sit up, but he still looked a bit dazed. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly felt incredibly tired.

Ginny noticed this and asked, "Harry, are you feeling ok?"

Harry would have replied, but he chose that moment to collapse.

* * *

Harry awoke and found himself back in his room at Marauder's Mansion. He felt quite confused, as the last thing he remembered was being at Diagon Alley, and Ginny had just asked him if he felt all right. 'I guess someone took me back here' Harry thought as he got up and went downstairs.

"Thank goodness! Harry, are you all right!" the Lily in the portrait asked.

"Fine. I'm fine. What happened? Where is everyone?"

"They've gone back to Hogwarts, son. You've been out for just over a week" James told him.

"B...but that means…the Quidditch match!" Harry exclaimed.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Pronglet. So you missed a match, big deal. You'll get another opportunity from what everyone says, even if you have to wait until the next World Cup. Moony told us what happened and you're lucky to be alive right now."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, feeling rather confused.

"What he means Harry, is that you put so much power into helping, you didn't notice the symptoms your body was giving you" the portrait Remus replied.

"What symptoms? I don't understand…"

"You exhausted yourself. You hadn't given your body enough time to recover between transformations, and you collapsed" James interrupted.

Harry stood there in shock. He had forgotten about that. Remus had warned him about trying to do too much, but he hadn't listened. He slumped down in the couch in front of the fire.

"I…I didn't realise. I guess I should head back to Hogwa…"

"Don't bother, Harry. Remus said he'd swing by once you woke up. Just go and get some rest. We'll tell Molly when she gets back, all right?" Peter said.

Harry nodded and walked upstairs to his room. His head had barely touched the pillow when he fell asleep again.


	27. Chapter 27 – The Calm Before The Storm

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Yes, Harry screwed up, and yes, Remus will remind him what happened to Trent when he did the same thing. And yes, I was so very tempted to stop that chapter when Harry collapses. And yes, don't worry there _will_ be some Quidditch later! And yes, I know I've written 'and yes' far too many times in this paragraph!

I should take a poll for this thing! A couple reckon it'll be Bob, another for Draco…

And yet another short break for me, I won't be posting this weekend. I'm heading back home for a mate's wedding.

* * *

**Chapter 27 – The Calm Before The Storm**

Harry had fully recovered from his exhaustion and had been back at Hogwarts for two weeks. He'd found out that Voldemort had used the attack at Diagon Alley to lure the Aurors away so he could once more break his followers out of Azkaban. Harry had been a little confused about why Voldemort would risk having more Death Eaters captured, but was told by Remus that the Death Eaters used at Diagon Alley were mainly new recruits, while the ones in Azkaban were more senior.

Harry himself had been kept under close scrutiny to make sure he didn't suffer any relapses. Remus had reminded Harry that Trent had been in a coma for ten years when he overextended himself, and Harry apologised once again for not listening to his Defence Professor. Because of the study Harry had put in during his last visit to the Spirit Room, he didn't have much to catch up on when he was allowed to attend classes. McGonagall had refused to let Harry go to his classes until his energy had been fully restored, which Harry found a little harsh, but reluctantly agreed to.

Hermione and Ron were currently sitting in the Head Students common room, finishing off their last Defence assignment before the NEWT's began. Remus had decided to give them four months in which to study for it, which Hermione had been delighted with. Harry was sitting quietly on the couch, thinking about the upcoming battle. He had tried to picture every possible situation, and think up strategies that may work during each scenario. Every time he thought about it, he always ended up with a headache.

Harry sighed and made his way over to the portrait exit.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

"I just need to go for a walk to clear my head, that's all."

"I really wish you didn't worry about it so much, Harry. You look more a nervous wreck than me around exam time right now."

Harry stopped and turned back to face his friends. He sighed before answering, "I…I just want it to be over."

"We know mate. But worrying about it isn't going to help. There is such a thing as being too prepared. Remember the first time you beat Lupin? You did that on instinct alone."

"Yeah I know. But Remus wasn't trying to kill me, Ron. Anyway, I'm just going out for a bit. I'll see you guys later."

His friends nodded and Harry exited through the portrait hole.

He walked outside and made his way to where the Hogwarts graveyard was located. He quickly found Dumbledore's tombstone and closed his eyes. No matter how hard he tried to reason, Harry still blamed himself for the old wizard's death. He sighed and opened his eyes again and looked at the tombstone of the former Headmaster.

"What would you do?" he asked.

He was incredibly surprised when he heard someone answer "seeking council, Mr. Potter?"

Harry turned around and spotted the Headmistress walking towards him.

"You could say that. I haven't been here since his funeral."

McGonagall nodded in understanding. "I often come here to ask for his advice in certain situations. A pity he didn't leave a portrait behind, but there you go, that's Albus for you."

"How come there's no inscription?"

"Albus didn't want people to remember him by a phrase on his tombstone. He'd rather we remember him in our own way."

Harry grinned, "I'm surprised he didn't want his tombstone in the shape of a lemondrop."

McGonagall gave him a wry smile and answered "that was his first choice, Potter."

Harry sighed and looked up at the Headmistress, "what was the last war like? I've heard people say this is nowhere near as bad."

"And they're right, Potter. We gave serious thought to closing the school down during that time, but Albus refused to hear it. He felt that if we did that, then Vol…Voldemort would win."

Harry smiled as she said this. 'Another one who has finally decided to say his name' he thought as McGonagall continued

"Albus wanted us to carry on with our normal lives as best we could. Which was quite difficult when letters kept on arriving informing you that someone close to you had been murdered."

"Then why isn't he doing the same this time around?"

"Only he knows that, Potter. I would say most of that is down to you. He can't figure out why he can't defeat you, and has become obsessed with trying to find out."

She then sighed and said "it's nice to have you back, Potter."

After she said this, Harry watched as Professor McGonagall walked back to the castle leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Harry has making his way to meet with Malfoy. Professor Snape had informed Harry during Potions that Malfoy wanted to meet with him, again at ten outside the Astronomy tower. He nodded at Malfoy as he approached the blond-haired Slytherin.

"Right Malfoy. We've started to organise a defence for Easter. Is it still on for then, has he changed his mind or anything like that?"

"No Potter. Nothing's changed. My father informed me that at the last meeting they were going over the forces the Dark Lord has."

"Any idea of rough numbers?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged, "not really. Probably around two hundred Dementors, about the same number of Death Eaters, and no idea how many other creatures."

Harry nodded. "So we can probably expect six hundred or so. We'll most likely do the same thing as last year and only allow sixth and seventh years in the battle."

"Good idea. You'll also have to contend with most of the other Slytherin's and possibly a few Ravenclaw's as well."

Harry looked thoughtful and picked his words carefully.

"How…much…influence do you have inside Slytherin, Malfoy?"

Draco looked taken aback. "A lot. Why, Potter?"

"You reckon you could…sway them?"

"I'm not telling them about my allegiances yet, Potter" Draco started, somewhat defensively.

"I didn't mean it like that. Do you think you could convince them not to fight until they see whether or not I am capable of beating him?"

Malfoy thought about this and let out a sigh. "Crabbe and Goyle will be easy enough. They'll do whatever I tell them to. A handful of others have families who aren't on any side yet. But I'm not sure about the rest."

Harry was a little disappointed. "Are you aware of any of them that have doubts like you did?"

Draco shook his head "no I'm not. But I'll see what I can dig up. Why did you ask about stopping them until they see if we have the advantage?"

"Because then we won't have to worry about them. We estimate we'll have around two hundred or so here if everyone fights on our side. You said that won't happen, so one-fifty against six hundred is slightly better odds than one-fifty against six-fifty."

"That's still pretty poor odds Potter. They'll be able to win even if we can fight better, as they'll have the weight of numbers."

Harry nodded. "True, but we're banking on some help that they won't be expecting. We've got a few creatures from the Forbidden Forest who have decided to help. And do you remember that siren that went off last year when the attack was starting?"

Draco nodded and Harry carried on "well, we've hooked it up to one in the Ministry. When it goes off, the Ministry Aurors will be notified, and hopefully a good chunk will come and help."

"I didn't know about that…" Draco began.

"That's the whole idea. We only want those in the Ministry we trust to know. That way, no one will suspect anything" Harry interrupted.

Draco furrowed his brow deep in thought. When he finally looked up, Harry was surprised to see him smile.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you Potter."

Harry smirked, "well, I can't take all the credit. Besides, the Hat didn't consider sorting me into Slytherin for nothing you know."

Draco looked shocked. "You mean the 'Great Harry Potter' could have been a Slytherin?! If you had of told me that even last year, I would have laughed. But now, I don't think I'm really surprised. You do have a fair bit of Slytherin in you, Potter."

"Coming from you, I'm taking that as a compliment, Malfoy!" Harry grinned and Draco returned it.

* * *

Harry informed Remus about what Malfoy said about having to contend with most of Sklytherin's and even some Ravanclaw's. The older wizard thanked Harry, and said he'd see if there could be a way to determine which students will fight on Voldemort's side, and if there is a way of keeping them out of the fight altogether. Harry suggested figuring out some way to test the students, and only let those who passed to help in the fight. Remus admitted that it was a good idea, and would endeavour to see what he could come up with.

Harry had been to visit Bob the Dementor and he had informed Harry of the best piece of news he'd heard in a long time. Bob had told his colleagues about Harry's new charm that was able to destroy them. This had persuaded the Dementors into thinking that Harry might be the better master, and all of them had agreed to stay out of the ultimate fight until either Voldemort or Harry had beaten the other.

Harry had received a note from Mrs. Weasley, which contained a letter from the Department for Transport. They informed Harry that he would be soon eligible to take his practical driving test to gain his provisional driving license. Professor McGonagall had given him permission to take his test, as long as Remus went with him in case Voldemort decided to try anything and attack early.

Harry himself had decided to enjoy his final few months at Hogwarts, and spent his time either studying for his NEWT's with Hermione, Ron and Neville, or walking around the grounds by himself. He could barely believe that, if things went the way he hoped, in a few short months, he'd be leaving Hogwarts for the final time. As he walked around the snow-covered grounds, he couldn't help but think what things might be like in three months time. There was nothing Harry, or anyone else could do but wait for the battle to begin. And for Harry, waiting was the hardest part.


	28. Chapter 28 – Betrayal

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Oh, why did I 'allow' Remus to give them four months to study? I'd want quite a bit of time to go over things I've learnt for the last seven years! Particularly if I have other subjects to do! The Order 'people' list in this chapter, I got from Harry Potter Lexicon…I _hope_ I haven't missed anyone, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if I have!

Also those numbers are going to be off. There isn't probably more than 100 students in the whole of 6th and 7th year combined, but I felt a larger scale battle would be a bit more appropriate for a finale. Hope you don't mind…

As for if I'll use the 'ascended' transformations…you'll have to wait and see (don't worry, we're nearly up to there)! Again, sorry I couldn't update last weekend, but real life got in the way!

* * *

**Chapter 28 – Betrayal**

Harry hadn't heard back from Remus about whether or not they'd figured out a way to see which students were on Voldemort's side of the fight for just over a month. He had been invited to attend the Order meeting to be held on the weekend before the battle was expected to take place. Harry had been using the time leading up to them in Trent's trunk, studying for his NEWT's.

Harry was having no trouble whatsoever in any of his classes, even Wandless Magic. He could easily beat all the students in Duelling, and had even managed to beat both Professors on more than one occasion. He and Hermione had continued on from their sixth year results and were still the top pairing in Potions. In Transfiguration and Charms, Harry was still slightly behind Hermione's grades, but he didn't really mind.

He had received the highest mark in Charms class with his modification of the Patronus charm, but only him and Professor Flitwick knew the real reasoning behind Harry switching to that from the stunning charm. McGonagall had gone over all the things she'd taught them the previous year, including Metamorphmagi.

Harry had initially believed he might be one, as he could remember regrowing his hair after his Aunt had given him an absolutely horrid haircut. But after learning more about Metamorphmagi, Harry found out that this was just another piece of 'emotional' magic that he'd performed. Defence had been going exceptionally well. Harry was able to reproduce any spell Remus had asked them to almost instantly.

The weekend came around and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville (the latter two joining the Order shortly after the fight at Diagon Alley) exited the Hogwarts grounds to apparate to Marauder's Mansion for the last Order meeting before Voldemort's ultimate attack on Hogwarts began. Harry still hadn't joined the Order, but Remus had insisted on him coming to the meeting as they'd be discussing strategies for the battle, and Harry had agreed to attend.

Harry had found out from Neville that his, Neville's, parents also used the Fidelius charm to hide from Voldemort. Dumbledore was chosen as their secret keeper, and had removed the charm once Harry had stopped Voldemort. This was how the Death Eaters, led by Bellatrix Lestrange were able to find where Frank and Alice Longbottom were living.

Harry had asked how come Neville himself hadn't been tortured, but he told Harry that he was staying with his Grandmother at the time Lestrange struck. Harry felt horrible that he was partly responsible for his parents being in St Mungo's, but Neville said he had no ill feeling, and getting revenge on Lestrange last year more than made up for it.

They walked into the living room of the mansion and waited for the remaining members of the Order to arrive. They didn't have to wait long and Harry was staggered to see exactly how many people the Order now had. When he first found out about the Order nearly three years ago, only Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Kingsley, Mundungus, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore Professors Snape, Dumbledore McGonagall and Hagrid were members.

Now those original members (except for Sirius and Dumbledore) had been joined by Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Professors Flitwick, Vector and Sinistra, Fleur Delacour, Amos Diggory, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater (who was still Percy's girlfriend).

"Yes Harry. As you can see, our numbers have grown somewhat, but still nowhere near enough to beat Voldemort by ourselves."

"I know, Remus. Is this everyone then?" Harry asked.

"It is. We might as well get this meeting under way. As you all know, Voldemort is due to strike Hogwarts in two weeks time. Hagrid, how are the defences from the Forbidden Forest looking?"

"No' bad Lupin. O' course had a much easier time o' gettin' Firenze an' the others to fight now they talked ter 'arry" the half-giant replied.

"Good. Kinglsey, has anyone found out about the warning siren at the Ministry yet?"

"Not a chance, Remus. As we agreed earlier, we wouldn't tell anyone about it until the siren goes off" the Auror answered.

"Severus, any update on the students we know who will be fighting against us?"

Harry's ears pricked up at this. He wanted to know how many were on Voldemort's side.

"Yes, Lupin. For some strange reason though, they all have agreed to stay out of the fight until either the Dark Lord or Potter has beaten the other."

Snape then glanced at Harry before continuing, "but I'm sure that Potter doesn't have any idea how this has happened."

Remus then looked at Harry, "you can tell us, Harry. We're all on the same side remember."

Harry nodded, "alright. My source informed me that they'd try to convince those on Voldemort's side to not fight until either me or Voldemort is dead."

"Who exactly is your source, Mr. Potter? And how do you know you can trust them?" Professor Vector asked.

"Their name is unimportant. As for why I trust them? I trust them because it was them who came to me first. And if you knew who they were, you'd understand how difficult it would be for them to have done that."

"You can tell them, Potter. He won't mind, I asked him that myself some weeks ago" Snape said.

"Er, ok then. Our other spy inside Voldemort's ranks is none other than Draco Malfoy."

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

"No Ron. I'm Harry, remember. Sirius died a couple of years ag…"

"Shut up, Harry. You mean you've been meeting with _Malfoy_ at the Astronomy tower?"

"So what if I have, Ron? As I said, he came to me first. He trusted me and because of that, I now trust him."

"Besides, we aren't here to discuss Harry's source of information, Ron. We're here to determine our final strategies" Hermione reminded him and Ron fell silent.

Remus continued. "As we all know, Harry has the Marauder's Map, and we will probably be using this to determine exactly when the fight is due to start. What forces does he have, Harry?"

"Malfoy told me we can expect around six hundred or so, made up of Death Eaters, Dark creatures and Dementors" Harry replied giving Professor Flitwick a quick glance as he said the last word.

Remus nodded. He knew from Harry that the Dementors were staying out of it, but he decided to keep up appearances. "Very well. That is more than I'd be hoping for, but we shall have to do our best. If we can keep everyone occupied until the Aurors turn up hopefully we might stand a chance."

He then turned to Harry, "I know you don't want to hear this Harry, but I want you to stay out of the fight until Voldemort himself shows up."

Harry bit his lip before replying "Remus, we both know that I am more than capable of mixing it with them. Besides, Voldemort won't use all his forces at once. He'll come at us in waves."

"How do you know that?"

"Simple, Hermione. It's what Trent would do. He'll probably start with the newer Death Eaters, before unleashing his Dark creatures. Only once all of those are fighting would he risk his inner circle of Death Eaters, and himself."

"I agree, Harry. That's also what I'd do. It's kind of like a massive game of chess but all the pieces are moving at the same time" Ron answered.

The rest of the meeting went by with everyone discussing what the most useful spells would be against certain types of opponents. It was agreed that the Unforgivables were off limits, except in extreme cases. Finally, the meeting finished and soon only Remus and Harry were left in the room.

Remus walked over and clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Everything will be all right. You will defeat him."

Harry closed his eyes and sighed, "nothing is certain, Remus. I've done all I can. I just hope it's enough."

Remus smiled down at his surrogate Godson, "remember what Sirius said in his letter, Harry. What does your heart tell you?"

Harry looked up into Remus' brown eyes and nodded slowly. "That it is enough. I will do this Remus, I have to."

Remus nodded, "I know. It's time to put aside the 'boy-who-lived', and embrace your true destiny."

* * *

The next week went by rather quickly, and Harry and the others were having breakfast when he could feel his scar begin to burn. One look at Remus and he nodded in reply. He quickly whispered something to Professor McGonagall who then stood up and addressed those in the Hall. 

"Would all sixth and seventh year students please meet outside in ten minutes. Bring your wands, and notify your friends if they aren't here. Fifth years and below are to stay here with Professor Trelawney, and are NOT permitted to leave under ANY circumstances. Thank you."

She and the rest of the Professors stood up and exited the Hall. Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Ginny stood up straight away and were soon followed by the rest of the sixth and seventh years from all the houses.

More than a few whispers of "what's going on?" were heard, but Harry knew McGonagall would explain everything when they got outside. Harry was only partly right, a full explanation of the impending battle was given, but it was by Remus, and not McGonagall.

Those students who didn't know about it were shocked, but the others tightened their resolve and vowed to do their best until the Aurors came to help. As Headmistress, McGonagall had informed Kinsgley and Tonks that she would lower the wards surrounding Hogwarts for ten minutes after the siren went off. That would give both of them just enough time to quickly explain what was happening to those in the Ministry, and still have time to apparate straight to the fight.

As Snape had mentioned in the previous Order meeting, the Slytherin's who were on Voldemort's side had been swayed by Draco to not participate in the fight until Voldemort himself showed up. Harry had been surprised when a few Ravenclaw's also decided against fighting, but quickly remembered Malfoy informing him that this might be the case.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts when a loud siren went off, and Harry could make out several dark figures charging out of the shadows in the distance. Harry withdrew his wand and took in a deep breath, the battle that would determine this war was about to begin. A quick glance around and Harry saw that everyone had their wands drawn and were waiting to see how many enemies they would be initially up against.

Harry lost count after thirty or so, but quickly got into his stride and threw several stunning charms in the direction of the Death Eaters. This was the signal everyone was waiting for, and soon the grounds in front of the castle were filled with an array of coloured light, flashing across the grounds in all directions.

Harry had jumped straight in and was fighting against three foes. He hadn't yet transformed, as he wanted to save that for when Voldemort himself turned up. Harry was using the Dark Arts that Trent had taught him the previous year. The Death Eaters weren't expecting that, and Harry was quickly beginning to gain the upper hand against the three of them. He was unaware of the person slowly sneaking up behind him until he heard a voice

"Stupefy!"

Harry whirled around and saw Ron face down behind him with a dagger in his hand.


	29. Chapter 29 – Payback

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Ah, I take it not many picked it right. So why that person, and who saved Harry? Sorry about the cliffie, but…I really couldn't resist! In hindsight…I probably should have posted this at the same time as ch 28.

Why does it look like Remus has taken over leadership of the Order? Well, seeing as though he's Defence Professor, I thought it would make the most sense if he did it. It's not really that important who's in charge anyway, it all comes down to Harry…in the end.

* * *

**Chapter 29 – Payback**

The Death Eaters used this time to throw curses at Harry, but Harry was too fast. He quickly stunned the three of his foes, before looking around to see who had stopped Ron.

"It seems you were right about the betrayal, Potter. Good thing I was watching your back."

Harry turned and was amazed to see Snape walking over to him.

"You…you mean _Ron_ was the one! B…but how? When?"

Snape then bent over Ron's body and waved his wand. Ron's body glowed a light blue colour before Snape stood back up.

"It looks like he's been under the Imperius curse for quite a while. Have you noticed anything unusual about him?"

"Not really. Apart from Defence and Charms, I don't see him that much. He got stunned at that fight in Diagon Alley at the start of the year, but I didn't think much of it at the time."

Snape nodded and stood up before facing Harry.

"You'd better get him inside. Just remember to remove the curse before you let him out of your sight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pests to stun."

Harry nodded, and quickly dragged himself and Ron back into the castle before leading Ron into an empty classroom and bound him to a chair. Harry moved to the back of the room and stood in the shadows. 'Now we wait' Harry thought.

* * *

Harry was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Ron struggling against the bindings. His friend stopped when he heard a voice. 

"It won't do you any good Ron. I conjured them myself."

Ron's eyes widened as he saw Harry step out of the shadows.

"You've been under the Imperius curse for a while, Ron. I don't know how you managed to not be noticed, but it's over."

Harry then issued the counter-curse, before releasing Ron from his bindings.

"Ha…Harry! I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but…"

"You couldn't. I know how the curse works Ron. It must've been strong if you weren't able to show any signs of struggling against it. Voldemort hasn't arrived yet, but you up to fighting for us?"

Ron nodded, "definitely. I have a certain someone to payback for this."

He made to leave, but Harry grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Who did it, Ron?"

His friend narrowed his eyes and spat, "Malfoy."

"B...but he…he's on our side! He…he informed us of the battle!" Harry stuttered out in shock.

"I didn't mean him, I meant his father. He put the curse on me at Diagon Alley at the start of the year. He didn't make me do anything until now. I'm so sorry, Harry."

"It's in the past, Ron. Let's get back into the thick of things then."

His friend nodded and the two of them made their way back outside to rejoin the fight.

* * *

Harry had decided to listen to Remus' advice, and stayed back until he could feel Voldemort's energy signal appear in the immediate vicinity. He observed as the Aurors, led by Kinsgley and Tonks made short work of the Death Eaters, and also watched as the Dark creatures began to arrive. Bob had informed Harry earlier that all of the Dementors would wait in the forest until they saw who was the stronger between Harry and Voldemort. Harry was relieved at this, as it made the battle far more even. 

Harry watched as the Lethifolds were being destroyed by several Patronus charms. He smiled as he recognised Remus' and Hermione's respective Patronus forms of a werewolf and an otter. The vampires were being defeated by the solar burst charm, and the trolls, werewolves and giants were slowly being reigned in by the attacks of the centaurs and spiders.

Harry wasn't enjoying not being involved, but knew he had to stay fresh if he was to have any chance of fulfilling the prophecy. He summoned one of his swords from his trunk and started practising some basic moves using only one hand. After what felt like an eternity, Harry finally felt what he'd been waiting for; Voldemort himself had arrived.

* * *

"Stupefy! How you going Perce?" Bill asked while stunning another opponent. 

"Not bad thanks William. Expelliarmus!"

Percy's foe saw his wand fly out of hands before being taken down with a stunning charm.

"Can't see Harry yet can you?"

"No, I guess that means Voldemort hasn't arriv…"

"Avada Kedavra!" a new voice interrupted, and Percy's body slumped to the ground. Bill barely had enough time to turn and see who done it before he felt a wand tip pressing against his neck.

"So Weasley. Your parents won't miss another one will they?"

"Lucius Malfoy. I should've known you'd be here by now" Bill spat, and he could feel Lucius' wand press harder against his neck.

"I could do it you know. Two words and it'll all be over. The Dark Lord shall triumph over Potter before taking over the wizarding world."

Bill managed to cough before answering, "I doubt it Malfoy. Harry is far more superior than your pathetic excuse for a mast…"

Bill was cut off as Lucius spoke the fatal words "Avada Kedavra. Pity really. I fancy Draco would liked to have done that."

"Hello father."

Lucius didn't worry about turning around as he recognised his son's voice. Had he bothered, he might have noticed two wands trained on him, the other belonging to Ron.

"Not yet Malfoy. It's payback time. Crucio!" Ron spat and the older Malfoy was brought to his knees, trying not to scream.

"Stop it Weasley. We agreed to do this together, remember?"

Ron sighed but released his curse. Lucius recovered some of his breath and looked up at his son, his face one of pure hatred.

"So. You dare betray your own father, Draco. You will be killed along with the rest."

Draco snorted "I highly doubt that, _father_. In case you haven't noticed, your forces are dwindling by the second, whereas ours are still going strong."

"You are a fool. Once my master gets here, none of you will escape his wrath…"

"Except for Harry. Remind me again how many times he's escaped your _precious_ master?" Ron casually interrupted.

Lucius narrowed his eyes and began to get to his feet. It was the last thing he did as the two young wizards both pointed their wands at Lucius' chest and shouted at the same time "Avada Kedavra!"

Ron rushed over to his fallen brothers and fell to the ground in disbelief. His eyes began to fill with tears as Draco confirmed what he already knew

"I'm sorry we didn't arrive in time to save your brothers, Weasley."

Ron blinked away his tears before replying, "with so many of us, there was always a high chance that at least one of us wouldn't make it. Every time I talked with Bill, he always was going on about some new crazy adventure or close call he had in Egypt. Percy was a git, but Harry mentioned that he helped him to gain access to Azkaban. I never got the chance to tell him that I forgave him for acting like he did two years ago."

Ron then looked over at Draco and asked, "speaking of Azkaban, do you have any idea on when he's going to unleash his Dementors on us? I haven't seen any yet."

Draco shook his head, "wouldn't have a clue. I thought they'd arrive with the other Dark creatures, but maybe he's saving them for later or something. On the subject of arriving, it looks like Potter's about to be in action."

Ron looked over at where Malfoy was looking and saw a figure he'd only ever seen once, and that was from inside Harry's pensieve.

Tall and imposing, with a long black cloak and blood red eyes, Lord Voldemort was a daunting sight for anyone, and Ron gulped.

"Good thing Harry has to fight him, and not me. How the heck could he have escaped from him so many times? Does he always look that…"

"Angry? He does, well at least at the meetings I've gone to he has. I guess now we'll see exactly what Potter has up his robe sleeve" Malfoy interrupted and Ron nodded his head in agreement.


	30. Chapter 30 – The Struggle Within

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

So…am I forgiven for 'playing' Ron like I did? I certainly won't be for what I do in this chapter though (braces himself for the onslaught)!

If last chapter didn't have anything to do with Harry vs Voldemort, that's pretty much all this one DOES deal with! And don't worry, parade, this story is finished, so it _will_ be continued!

Oh, and the return of a certain someone is nigh! And I have no idea exactly how the Imperius Curse works. From what I can gather though, if it's strong enough, you wouldn't be able to fight it off. And if all you get told to do is act normal, I don't see how anyone would notice to be honest. As for how Severus knew…he does like the Dark Arts, so I'm guessing there's a spell you can use to check if someone was under the influence of it.

Good news (well, maybe not…depends on your opinion I guess!); I have finished the draft of my prequel (the Marauders final year) as of the weekend just gone. I cannot describe how incredibly relieved and happy I was too! A bit of a dilemma now…what would you people prefer? I might be able to start posting it straight after this one is finished, or would you rather wait until after Half Blood Prince comes out?

* * *

**Chapter 30 – The Struggle Within**

Voldemort surveyed the scene in front of him and was not impressed. Not only was his vast army losing, but there was still no sign of his main weapons.

"WHERE ARE MY DEMENTORS!" he roared.

"Hello Tom, long time no see. Have you recovered from last time?"

Voldemort whirled around and came face-to-face with Harry who had a sword pointed at his chest.

Voldemort glared at Harry before conjuring a sword of his own.

"Let's see if you've learnt anything from me, Potter. How well did I teach you?"

Harry merely smiled, and assumed a defensive stance, waiting for Voldemort to make the first move. It came almost instantly, and if Harry had blinked, he would've been sliced in half. Voldemort had all of Trent's knowledge about martial arts, and so could more than hold his own in a sword fight. Harry was struggling to respond, despite using some of his new moves he'd picked up from watching Trent's videos.

The battle then heated up when Harry decided to combine both muggle and magical methods of fighting. Harry had practiced using his left hand for spells, as he needed it for the fusion charm, and had become efficient, if less accurate than with his right hand. But if Voldemort had not been expecting Harry to do this, he certainly didn't show it.

Constantly attacking with his sword, then jumping back to throw curses at Voldemort was slowly taking its toll on Harry. Also Trent's better ability at using wandless magic quickly gave Voldemort the upper hand, and Harry found himself struggling even more than before.

Voldemort was unable to use any Dark magic, as it was impossible to conjure without a wand, and instead was hitting Harry with spells that he knew Harry could defend against. But the speed in which the spells came, made any defence Harry could come up with virtually hopeless. Harry's shield finally collapsed under the magnitude of spells Voldemort used, and Harry felt the full force of a disarming charm. Harry's wand and sword went sailing out of his hands and landed somewhere behind him. He was now practically defenceless.

Voldemort was wary enough not to attack Harry straight away. He knew about Harry's wandless magic, as Harry had demonstrated on him last year at Riddle Manor. He pointed his own wand at Harry's chest and spoke in a low voice

"Potter. I will crush you this time. You don't have anywhere near the power needed to defeat me."

Harry knew he had exhausted his options for distracting Voldemort long enough for Bob to take his soul, save for a couple. It was time for one of his new wandless spells to make an entrance.

Harry raised his eyebrows and replied "really. We'll see about that then, won't we? Solaris Burstan!"

Harry closed his eyes as he said the words of the solar burst charm. The spell in itself didn't do anything except blind your opponent, which is exactly what Harry wanted. He quickly found his discarded wand and made his way over to where Remus was fighting.

He stunned Remus' opponent before grabbing his surrogate Godfather's shoulder. "Remus, listen to me. We have to fuse, right now! This is our last chance!"

Remus nodded and the duo moved into position. By that time, everyone had stopped fighting and were looking towards Harry in confusion. His friends had seen him fighting Voldemort, and knew he had conjured the burst of light for a distraction. But they didn't know about the fusion charm.

Harry took one final glance at Remus and nodded before both of them performed the charm.

"Fusionio!"

A jet of white light burst from their wands and connected. The light then consumed both Harry and Remus, and everyone had to shield their eyes from its intensity. Once they could see again, only one figure was standing.

"What was that ridiculous spell? Who's that guy?" Ron asked.

"It looks like Professor Lupin…" Hermione began.

"But he's got Harry's hair!" Ginny added.

"And he's holding two wands!" Neville exclaimed.

Voldemort had also recovered from Harry's diversion and looked just as confused.

"Potter, where are you? SHOW YOURSELF!"

The figure turned towards Voldemort and smiled.

"I'm right here, Tom. The one you call Potter is no more. Harremus is back, and ready for some fun!" the voices of both Harry and Remus said at the same time.

Harremus then let out an almighty roar and the familiar golden glow encompassed his body. His hair had also become golden and was sticking up at odd angles.

Voldemort smirked in reply. "Nice try. But let me show you what true power is."

He then also roared, and transformed himself.

"Impressed, Potter? Like what you see do you."

Harremus raised an eyebrow in response before speaking, "is that all you've got? How disappointing. Oh well, let's get this show on the road shall we."

Both Harremus and Voldemort then started flinging curses and hexes at each other. Harremus was using both wands while Voldemort switched between using his wand and wandless magic. Such was the ferocity and speed of their casting, that everyone gasped in astonishment. The battle between these two signalled the restart for everyone else.

Harremus was easily holding his own against everything Voldemort threw at him. In actual fact, it was Voldemort who looked to be weakening much quicker. Harremus noticed this and made his move. He proceeded to hammer Voldemort with all he had.

The Slytherins and Ravenclaws inside the castle noticed this as well. Once they saw their master being beaten, they knew why Draco had told them to stay out of the fight until this point in time. They all burst outside and proceeded to join the effort against Voldemort's forces. This swayed the battle easily in the light side's favour. In fact, after another ten minutes, the other battle was nearly over, with the Death Eaters and Dark creatures being comfortably dealt with.

All was going according to plan until Voldemort was thrown some fifty yards away and clattered into the front gates of Hogwarts which were ripped off their hinges from the impact.

He tried to stand up, but found he couldn't. Voldemort looked up and saw Harremus standing a few yards away with one of his wands pointed directly at his chest.

"Do it Potter. Finish me off" he said before spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Inside the body of Harremus, a battle of wills was taking place. Remus knew the time for using Bob was close, but Harry wanted Voldemort to pay for all the evil he had done. Harry knew that _he_ couldn't use the Killing curse, but he knew Remus could. The older wizard didn't like that thought, so he suggested a different plan of action. Harremus narrowed his eyes before lowering his wand.

"No Tom. I told you last year that I'm not like you. You haven't suffered nearly enough for the pain you've put everyone through. I'll give you one final chance; release Trent and never harm another living creature again."

Voldemort laughed, again coughing up blood. He wiped his mouth before replying "you are pathetic, Potter. Even if I could release him, I would never bow to your wishes."

Harremus closed his eyes briefly, the internal battle about to take a turn for the worse. He sighed before raising Remus' wand once again.

"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you. Avada Kedavra!"

Instead of the jet of green light, nothing happened.

"NOT AGAIN! WHY NOW, DAMN IT! REMUS CAN USE IT, SO WHY CAN'T I!" Harremus screamed in frustration.

Voldemort, by that time, had recovered enough and managed to stand up, albeit somewhat shakily.

"So Potter, you can't kill me then. Well, let me show you how it's done. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Time itself seemed to slow down. Harremus stood there in shock before he felt someone push him out of the approaching path of the green light. That person then got the full force of the blow and hit the ground. Harremus looked over to see who it was and could hardly believe his eyes.

"Severus!" he gasped out, his voice filled with both surprise and sorrow.

"BAH! EVERY TIME I TRY, SOMEONE ALWAYS INTERFERES! NO MORE, POTTER, _THIS_ TIME YOU DIE!"

Voldemort then conjured a sword and started to charge Harremus. Suddenly, a white flash of light came from Harremus' body and Voldemort shielded his eyes. When he could see clearly, he saw both Harry and Remus staring at each other in confusion.

"That wasn't an hour, was it?" Remus asked.

"No, it might've just been half that! What happened?" Harry replied, his voice a little panicky.

Remus' eyes widened in realisation, "Harry, it must be our transformation. That charm wasn't based on people using it with that much power. It must have reduced the time down to cope with our energy!"

"Great. Er Remus? I suggest you run, this could get messy" Harry said as he saw Voldemort start to raise his wand. Harry then raised his right arm at the same time.

"Majoro Statisio!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry wondered why Voldemort's spell was widely off the mark, until he realised that he hadn't been aiming for him, it was meant for Remus. Harry froze at the thought of losing his friend, and the last remaining link to his parents. He couldn't find it within himself to turn around and see Remus fall to the ground.

Due to his previous battering from Harremus, Voldemort was unable to get out of the way of the Immobilisation charm and the light green spell struck him in the chest, stopping him in his tracks.

Harry then walked up to Voldemort and glared, "don't you learn, Tom? I used the same spell last time. You must've grown weak in your old age. But enough talk. I gave you a chance Tom Riddle, and you turned it down. So be it."

Harry raised his wand and turned towards the castle before saying "Accio Godric Gryffindor's sword!"

Voldemort's eyes widened as he realised what Harry was going to do. The gleaming sword came hurtling towards Harry and dropped to the ground in front of him. Harry picked it up and turned to face Voldemort again.

"How fitting will this be? The heir of Slytherin being beaten by Gryffindor's sword. Can you smell that Tom? That's the scent of your reign ending. I'm going to saviour this moment. Bob, you can come out now, it's time."

"Bob? Who are you talking to, Harry?" Ron asked as he came up to his best friend's side.

'I'm Bob' said a raspy ethereal voice from somewhere behind them.

Ginny whipped her head around.

"Who…where'd that voice come from?" she asked.

Hermione pointed towards the forest and nearly screamed, "Dementors! Quickly, everyone cast your Patro…"

"No don't! They're on our side!" Harry yelled and everyone just stared at him in disbelief.

Bob then glided away from the others and stopped by Harry's side.

"He's behind me Bob. The tall guy with the red eyes, who currently can't move."

'I know little master, I can sense him. It has been a pleasure to serve you.'

Harry nodded in response, "likewise. Without you, this wouldn't be happening. We'd better hurry though. That spell will wear off soon."

Bob nodded once and glided smoothly over to Voldemort. He looked back at Harry who was concentrating on all the hate and anger he had for Voldemort before raising his wand.

'You are prepared for this little master. Thank you for your help again. You are our true master. Your wish is my command.'

Bob then lowered his hood (unaware of the gasps from everyone as they saw for the first time what really was beneath it) and moved his 'face' towards a shocked looking Voldemort. A loud sucking noise was heard as Bob issued the Dementors kiss on Voldemort.

Harry then pointed his wand at Bob's chest and shouted "EXPECTO REDUCIUM!"

A brilliant red light burst from Harry's wand, which quickly assumed the form of Prongs.

"Only get the one over there" Harry guided it to where Bob and Voldemort were and the stag bowed its head in response before charging over.

The scarlet form of Prongs then dipped his head and speared his antlers into the Dementor. Instead of driving it away, the antlers pierced the cloak and Bob let out an unearthly scream before exploding in a dazzling shower of crimson sparks.

Prongs then trotted back to Harry before bowing again and vanishing in another red burst of light.

Harry then walked up to the soulless Voldemort, who was just staring blankly ahead, completely oblivious to anything. He raised Gryffindor's sword before getting a wicked gleam in his eye.

"You know what Tom? Sir Nicholas will be furious with this" and with one smooth swipe, Harry decapitated his long time foe. He then set about burning the remains, making sure that Voldemort could never return.

As he did this, he felt something inside of him screaming to get out. Harry then felt his scar burst open and he felt pain beyond anything he'd felt before. It was ten times worse than the charm he'd used last year to enable him to sense the wards around Hogwarts. Harry screamed in agony for an eternity before drifting into nothingness.

**This would _so_ be the perfect place to put "_Fin_", but…I wrote more!**


	31. Chapter 31 – A Difficult Decision

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

My sincere apologies, Lyons, but, yes, Severus is gone. I decided for him to pay the debt he owed both of them; Harry for saving him in ch 23 from Lucius, and Remus…you'll find out in my prequel what he owed him (_please_ don't kill me though, in my mind Severus is 'good', and until I see clear evidence suggesting otherwise…). I was quite privileged to be included on your favourites list since this story has rather little Severus in it!

Hmm, if I do that, kiwi, that'll give me about 6 weeks to put up all 23 chapters worth…which would then mean I wouldn't be posting _anything_ for a VERY long time! I do have my crossover fic, but it's nowhere near being ready yet. Apart from it though, I haven't got anything in the pipeline. I was thinking about posting one chapter a week, and giving everyone at least a month between updates when Half Blood is released. That would mean that my prequel would be fully posted either late 2005, or early 2006.

Why did he try using the Killing curse? I reckon I would've too in his position…despite knowing it isn't the best way to go about it.

Just a passing thought…the title for the previous chapter. I changed it _four_ times would you believe! From 'Prophecy Fulfilled' to 'Victory, But At What Cost?' to 'The Immovable Object Verses The Irresistible Force' to what it was. I have found it more difficult to sometimes come up with chapter names rather than the actual chapter…but I consider it to be quite important to provide a title for each chapter I write, even if some are a bit…lame!

* * *

**Chapter 31 – A Difficult Decision**

The next time Harry opened his eyes, he could see nothing but a white speck in the distance. He got up and proceeded to head towards it. It was further away than Harry initially thought so he began to run.

Harry had been running for hours when he finally noticed the light was being held back by a door. He reached for the handle but found the door already swinging open. He saw a figure with half-moon glasses and a long white beard step out.

"Dumbledore! But…how is this possible!" Harry gasped.

The old Headmaster smiled before embracing Harry.

"Well done Harry. You've fulfilled the prophecy. But come, there are some other people who'd like to see you."

Dumbledore then beckoned for Harry to step through the door so he did. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he was almost speechless. There in front of him stood the two people he would give up everything to have alive. Not only that, two other males were standing there, and all four of them had enormous smiles on their faces.

"Mum! Dad! Sirius! Peter!" Harry managed to croak out.

"Hello son. We're all very proud of you. You have done our world a great service, and we will be forever in your debt" his father started.

"I never told you, Harry, how much I loved you. I never even got the chance to pay you back for saving me from the Dementors that night" Sirius said.

"Nor did I get the chance to thank you Harry. You gave me the chance to repay some of the damage I'd caused. I know you'll never forgive me, and nor should you, but I thank you" Peter added.

"You have achieved so much, Harry. No words can begin to describe how much we all love you" his mother finished.

The four of them then embraced Harry in a hug that Harry never wanted to end. He felt home. He was back with his parents and their friends. But something just didn't quite feel right.

Dumbledore sighed, "ah Harry, you are rather astute. That is the final choice you must make."

"What do you mean, Professor?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled, "I'm no longer your Professor, Harry. Come to think of it, I never was but that is not the issue. You must decide whether to stay here, or go back home to your friends."

Harry was confused, "but…I thought I'm dead already? I mean I…I'm here and talking to you, right? And why isn't Remus here? He got hit with the Killing curse."

"Yes son, you are here. But you're not dead. You're in a state of limbo, not quite dead but not alive either. Your choice will determine which path you take. As for Moony, let's just say that something happened before it hit him."

"Like what?"

"He tripped over" Peter replied with a large grin.

'He tripped?' Harry thought incredulously, before a small smile crossed his face.

"Yep, so he's alive and well" James finished.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief but felt torn in two. He wanted to stay here with his parents, but he also wanted to see his friends again. Harry sighed before making his choice.

"As much as I'd like to stay, I must return. I want to have the chance to live my life without Voldemort chasing me around. I just want to have fun for a change."

"A wise decision Harry. Go back through the door and it will be so. We shall see you again, but hopefully not for a long time yet" Dumbledore replied with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling.

Harry walked through the door after yet another group hug, and fell into darkness once again.

* * *

"Harry! Can you hear me? _Please_ wake up!" 

Harry recognised the voice of that belonging to Remus. He slowly blinked opened his eyes.

"Thank Merlin, you're awake! I thought I'd lost you!"

Remus then handed Harry his glasses and hugged him tighter than Hagrid had ever done. Harry winced in pain.

"Please stop, Remus. I ache all over. What happened? Where am I?"

Remus released him and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You're at St Mungo's, Harry. You collapsed after you defeated Voldemort. What can you remember?"

Harry closed his eyes before concentrating on the last thing he knew. "Pain. It felt like Voldemort was trying to possess me again, but loads worse."

Remus nodded, "we believe what happened there had to do with when Voldemort cursed you over sixteen years ago. We think that what you felt were the remnants of Voldemort inside of you being destroyed. It overwhelmed you and for a long while we didn't think you'd pull through."

"How long was I out for, Remus?"

"A month. But don't worry, the celebrations will be going for much longer!"

Harry was astounded "Great, more attention. Just what I need! A whole month! I won't have any time to study for my NEWT's…"

"You can forget about that problem, Harry. It's all been sorted. The only exams you have to do are Potions and Transfiguration. You've been given top marks in everything else."

Harry sat there in stunned silence. He couldn't believe that Voldemort was actually gone, and he could finally get on with his life.

"It's really over isn't it? He's gone for good."

Remus smiled before answering, "yes Harry, it's all over. They even snapped Voldemort's wand. It looks like Dumbledore was wrong about the power you having being love though."

"Why, what do you mean, Remus?"

"It wasn't only love that helped you to beat him. It was also your compassion. You managed to give people second chances when others in your position most likely wouldn't have even bothered trying. You united Hogwarts to fight for a common goal, and not against each other."

Harry sat up in the bed in shock. He had never thought about the prophecy like that before. But as Remus had said that, it all fell into place. The Sorting Hat had urged the houses to unite for the last three years, and it was due to this, that the light was able to triumph over the dark. He had also managed to trust both Draco and Peter, as well as even giving Voldemort one final chance to redeem himself.

"I can hardly believe it's all over" Harry said, still stunned with everything that had happened.

"But remember that every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end. If you want further proof of that, take a look at yourself in this" Remus replied.

He then handed Harry one of Sirius' mirrors and Harry's mouth fell open in shock.

"My…my scar! It…it's gone!"

"It is. We also think you no longer possess the ability to speak parseltongue, but we can find that out later. Right now, you're probably wondering where everyone else is."

Harry nodded, he wanted to see his friends again. Remus sighed before continuing

"We lost a lot of people, Harry. I won't lie to you there. Moody, Percy, Bill and Severus were those we lost from the Order. Several students including Luna, Dean, Blaise, Justin and Colin also lost their lives, not to mention the Centaurs and spiders suffered rather badly as well."

Harry was horrified. His face must have shown it as well because Remus tried to cheer him up

"We caught all those from Voldemort's side though. They're currently awaiting trial in Azkaban."

Remus then smirked, "well, they would be if we could get to them."

"Why? What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"It seems Bob got through to the other Dementors. They've returned to Azkaban but are refusing to allow anyone access. It looks like they have decided to take orders from no one but yourself. They're not feeding either. They're just waiting to hear from you."

Harry groaned "great, a fan club. Why can't I just be normal for a change! Is that too much to ask for?"

Remus smiled before chuckling "perhaps, but believe me Harry, right now, _nothing_ is normal. The Obliviators are in overdrive trying to remedy all the celebrations that the muggles have seen. It's a madhouse. Frankly, that's why you're here and not at Hogwarts. This room is under the Fidelius charm so no one but myself could visit you."

"I'll bet Hermione and the Weasleys loved that!" Harry grinned and Remus laughed.

"Quite right! I had to threaten them with being bitten so they wouldn't kill me!"

Harry then laughed out loud for the first time in a long while.

When he calmed down, he turned to his surrogate Godfather and smirked. "Tripped, huh."

He gave Harry a sheepish look before Harry started laughing again, with Remus joining in soon after.

"I guess that is amusing since I have all those heightened senses. Call it fate…"

"Or sheer dumb luck" Harry interrupted.

"Or that" Remus admitted with a smile.

"So when can I leave here?"

Remus raised an eyebrow before asking, "you reckon you're up to apparating?"

Harry smiled. "I'd rather drive to be honest. Now I don't have to have that 'L' plate on the car, it won't be as embarrassing anymore!"

Remus grinned in reply and pulled out the model Jaguar XJ220 from his robes and gave it to Harry.

"I thought you'd say that. I'll meet you the mansion. We can drive from there."

Harry nodded and Remus vanished with a crack. Harry then got up and dressed himself before apparating to the mansion in a flash of orange.

* * *

"Where's my wand, Remus? And how come I didn't have any 'Get Well' cards or anything?" Harry asked when he spotted Remus outside the mansion. 

Remus cracked a wry smile before answering, "I thought you said you wanted to be normal. I've got your wand right here. You didn't have any cards because I wouldn't have been able to find you. You should see the amount of mail you've got Harry, it's bordering on insane."

Harry groaned again before taking his wand from Remus.

"However, Fred and George wanted to send you something else. They said you'd remember what it was all about."

"Oh, what was it?"

Remus slyly smiled in return before answering "a Hogwarts toilet seat."

Harry grinned, remembering his first year when the twins tried to do the same thing. He was brought from his memory when Remus next spoke.

"I, however, encouraged them not to."

"Unhygienic?"

"No, no. I merely suggested that why only stop at the seat" he grinned in reply.

Harry raised an eyebrow, waiting for Remus to continue. "So, your trunk is now the only one in the world that has an official working Hogwarts lavatory."

Harry started laughing, with Remus joining in soon after. He then took out and enlarged the model car before getting behind the wheel.

"Can you remember anything while you were out, Harry? Any dreams or anything like that?" Remus asked as Harry started the engine.

"Remus, you wouldn't believe any of it if I told you."

"After what we've been through the last couple of years, I highly doubt _anything_ could possibly surprise me anymore!"

"Alright then, there was one thing that happened. I woke up and was surrounded by darkness. I could just make out a white speck in the distance so I headed off towards it…"

After Harry finished telling Remus what happened with the James, Lily, Sirius, Peter and Dumbledore, Remus just sat there, his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Harry grinned.


	32. Chapter 32 – Aftermath

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Before you read this chapter; no, I don't really like the song I chose. I just couldn't find one that seemed more appropriate for the way things turned out (ok, the way I _made_ things turn out). I could only find one other song that would fit, but decided to use this one instead. You'll see what I mean after you read it. Please note that I have emailed fanfiction to ask if I can use it (since they don't like songs in fics), but I am of yet to hear back.

Hope the whole 'limbo' thing was easy enough to understand…and for Harry, that would be a VERY tough choice to make I'd imagine.

I didn't _really_ think he'd like a reunion with James and Sirius, Lyons. However, I have altered this chapter to include some Severus just for you (made it a bit longer, but hopefully worth it!). I only hope I captured his 'Snape-ishness' well enough (he's quite difficult to write for I'll have you know!).

Did you _really_ think I'd kill Remus…after _constantly_ saying that he's my favourite character…didn't think so (I didn't say the spell _struck_ him, did I now)! And yes, I did find it amusing to write that he tripped just at the right time, particularly after JKR wrote in Prisoner that he and his friends knew Hogwarts better than anyone else! I believe his fellow Marauders and Lily were watching and made _sure_ he fell over when he did! And for the last time, Star, Padfoot's the mutt, _not_ Moony!

After ch 28 with Ron, I would have thought you would realise something didn't seem right when you read it! Having said that, I only added that in after reading your responses to that chapter…so thanks for giving me the idea (ducks to avoid being whacked in the head)!

Banisher…you nearly gave me a heart attack! I finally figured out what those C2 groups are (after looking on your profile…oh, cheers for putting me onto sloth's stuff btw!). Dormant under 'Magical Epics'! I can live with the 'magical' bit (after all, it's the Potter universe), but an 'epic'…I am a tad sceptical on _that_…honoured, but sceptical, lol!

As for a sequel…I certainly had not thought about it, but I shall see. I'll need to come up with a storyline though…oh, and I still have one more chapter to go after this one (which _could_ make a possible sequel quite…pointless).

* * *

**Chapter 32 – Aftermath**

Harry and Remus pulled up outside the newly restored gates of Hogwarts. Just as Harry was about to exit the car, Remus grabbed him.

"Harry, I want you to know something. It seems most of the Slytherins were forced into serving Voldemort by their parents. They helped us enormously during the fight. It was Ron who helped Draco kill his own father after he saw him kill both Weasleys. You'll find their attitudes have changed a lot."

Harry nodded before speaking "we already knew about Malfoy's allegiance. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Would it be possible for me to go back to the mansion and study for my tests there? I'm not going to get any time to study here am I?"

Remus smiled again, "probably not, Harry. I wouldn't worry about it though. You don't still want to be an Auror do you? I felt your indecision during our fusion."

Harry nodded in reply "I'm not so sure about it now. I mean, he's gone for good. I just want to have some fun for a change. I'm thinking of trying out for the Quidditch league."

Remus' smile grew larger.

"Well Harry, you'll definitely like some of the letters you've received then. Come on, let's go inside. Everyone's waiting for the main guest to make his entrance."

Remus then hopped out of the car and waited for Harry at the gates. Harry got out and shrunk the car before walking over to where Remus was.

"Oh, just a moment, you need to look the part first."

Remus then muttered an incantation on both of them that Harry didn't hear. He saw what it did though as Remus' robes were replaced by a magnificent silver one with elaborate patterns of gold immersed in it. Harry looked down at himself and saw that his own robes had been similarly affected, only they were black and the patterns were a combination of gold and maroon.

"Now _that's_ one charm Ron could've used in our fourth year" Harry said, nodding in approval.

"Just a little trick your mother showed me."

"Really? Why didn't you do that to all your robes?"

"Well, it's a timed transfiguration spell. What it does is tap into your mind and sees which colours you like, then changes your robes into dress robes that would suit. Not very practical for working in classrooms."

"Oh, right. How long does it last?"

"Around six hours at most. I wore this to a ball we had once. In fact, I'm pretty sure the patterns were identical to these ones. You ready to go now?"

Harry just smiled and nodded before they both walked up the path from the gates to the front doors.

* * *

Harry and Remus came into the Great Hall to a thunderous round of cheers and a standing applause. Harry could hardly believe the amount of people inside. The Hall had been charmed to about three times its size, and it was nearly completely full. Harry looked around and recognised the students and Professors, as well as some of those from the Ministry. The rest Harry had no idea who they were, but guessed most were the families of the students.

The entire Gryffindor house had made a guard of honour for Harry to walk through, and the rest of the houses soon followed suit, even Slytherin. The applause didn't die down until Harry had reached the front of the Hall where he was beckoned to join those sitting at the staff table by McGonagall.

Once the applause did die down, Peeves came cackling into the Hall clutching Trent's charmed compact disc player. He set it down on the table in front of Harry and grinned.

"I've got something you might enjoy, Potty. I don't really care if you don't like it, but I think it's just perfect for the occasion."

Harry looked a little warily at the poltergeist before pushing the play button, and a tune soon echoed throughout the Great Hall.

"Well I won't back down  
No I won't back down  
You could stand me up at the gates of Hell  
But I won't back down."

Harry grinned as he recognised the song instantly.

"No I'll stand my ground  
Won't be turned around  
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down  
Gonna stand my ground  
And I won't back down."

Hermione and the other muggleborns and halfbloods who were familiar with the muggle singer, Tom Petty, were clapping at the appropriate times during the song.

"Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.  
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground.  
And I won't back down.

"Well I know what's right  
I got just one life  
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around  
But I'll stand my ground  
And I won't back down.

"Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.  
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground.  
And I won't back down.

"Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.  
Hey yeah, I won't back down  
Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.  
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground  
And I won't back down."

As soon as the remaining music of the song faded, the entire school population applauded once again, and Harry made a mental note to thank Peeves when he had the chance.

Once that round of applause had died down, Cornelius Fudge stood up and addressed the crowd

"Harry James Potter. It is my great pleasure as Minister of Magic, to present you with the Order of Merlin, first class, for your defeat of He-Who-Must…I guess it doesn't matter now he's gone…Voldemort" Fudge said.

Harry was stunned. He thought that he might get an award, but he didn't think it fair on everyone else that he took the entire credit. He looked up over to where Fudge was waiting for him, and he made his way to the stage.

Harry then cast a mild sonorus charm on himself so he could address the crowd once they'd finished yet another round of applause.

"Thank you Minister. However, I must decline this prestigious award."

A whisper of astonishment could be heard from the stunned crowd. Even the Minister was shocked.

"I cannot accept this honour, as I could not have done it without the help of the entire Hogwarts staff and the sixth and seventh year students. Voldemort would not have been defeated without the assistance of those who lost their lives trying to defend our world from him. Not just those who perished at the final battle, but also those killed in the years leading up to it."

Harry then looked towards Remus before continuing "and I could not have done it without the help of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation reformed just after Voldemort had risen again three years ago. Unless you give the rest of those people similar awards Minister, I'm afraid I cannot accept it."

Fudge looked stunned, as did the rest of the crowd in the Great Hall. But Harry wasn't quite finished.

"Or at the very least, would you be able to award four others?"

The Minister had recovered from his shock and nodded his head in agreement.

"Very well, Potter. Who are these four brave people?"

Harry smiled before answering "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Sirius Orion Black, Remus John Lupin and Peter Cameron Pettigrew."

Fudge was even more stunned. "Pe…Pettigrew? But Potter, he was convicted don't you remember? We used him to clear Black's name."

"I am aware of that, Minister. But he confessed later under Veritaserum that he had been forced by Voldemort himself to reveal my parents' location. He also assisted in telling us of the numerous hiding places that Voldemort had been using. I think it fair you acknowledge him as well. Oh and you might want to also recognise Severus Snape. He took the brunt of a Killing curse that was directed at me from Voldemort himself during the final battle, plus he was a loyal spy for us during both wars."

Silence filled the Hall until Harry could hear one person applauding. He looked over to see who it was, and was stunned to find it was Malfoy, with a broad smile on his face, doing the clapping. The entire Gryffindor table and finally the rest of those in the Hall soon joined him in another round of applause. The Minister bowed to Harry's wishes and announced that the five people Harry had mentioned would also receive an Order of Merlin, first class for their key roles, and everyone else who participated in the final battle would be awarded the Order of Merlin, second class.

* * *

The wards around Hogwarts were changed back to their original ones, now that the threat of Voldemort (and Trent) was over. Harry smiled at this as it meant he was now able to apparate within Hogwarts, and he managed to startle more than a few people by appearing out of thin air right in front of them.

Classes had been cancelled for the rest of the year, and soon exams were upon them. Hermione had been jealous of Harry, as he only had to do exams for two subjects, but had to agree that it would be a waste of time for Harry to do the rest. He'd proven he was more than capable of doing nearly any spell they'd been taught during his fight with Voldemort. Overall Harry felt his NEWT's had gone well, despite not being able to get much study in, as everyone was still congratulating him on defeating Voldemort. If it wasn't for Trent's trunk, Harry would not have gotten any study in at all.

Harry had gone back to Marauder's Mansion after his exams to see exactly how much mail he'd received. He soon found that Remus had been very kind when he told Harry that it was only bordering on insane. Remus, or someone else, had charmed his room to three times its normal size to cope with all of the letters he'd been given. Thankfully, his mail had been sorted into piles, and Harry read the ones with seals he recognised first.

He soon saw what Remus had meant about him liking some of his mail. He had received letters from five Quidditch teams (Puddlemere United and the Chudley Cannons among them) asking him if he would like to try out for the next season. Ron had been verging on hysterical when he saw the letter from the Cannons, and had begged Harry to try out for them.

Harry knew that Ryan Mitchell played for the Cannons, and it was rumoured that Oliver Wood might transfer from Puddlemere, so Harry decided that Chudley would be his best bet. Harry had also gotten a letter from Daniel Anderson informing him that despite Harry being unable to play in the game against Albania, he would still be under consideration for future games should he continue the form he showed at the trial last August.

The only loose end Harry had yet to tie off, was his visit to Azkaban to talk to the Dementors. Harry had chosen to do this the Friday before the closing feast, as he didn't want to have anything on his mind that might get in his way of enjoying his final feast at Hogwarts as a student. Friday soon came around and Harry made his way to Remus' office, as Remus had all but demanded he go with Harry for 'protection'. Harry didn't believe any of it, and just felt Remus wanted to get out of Hogwarts for a little while.

Ever since Harry's announcement during the celebration, when he asked for Remus to be awarded the Order of Merlin, first class, everyone had been coming up to Remus and congratulating him. He'd even received some rather interesting letters as well, but no one except Remus knew the true contents of those.

And judging by how flustered he looked whenever he read any of them, Harry didn't have to be a mind reader to guess that Remus now had some 'admirers'. Harry had joked that he now knew what Harry had to put up with for the last seven years, and Remus had profusely apologised to Harry saying that he had no idea what he had to go through. Harry laughed him off but just before the two of them apparated to Azkaban, something caught his eye.

"What's that, Remus?" he asked, pointing to a green and silver envelope addressed to himself.

"Oh, something that came to me the day after Voldemort was defeated" he replied before opening his drawer, pulling out a similarly styled letter, only addressed to Remus instead.

"They came together, and I have no idea how to open them. The only thing I can assume is that whoever sent them wanted both of them to be opened at the same time."

Harry nodded and picked up his envelope. No sooner had he done this, both seals broke.

"Looks like you were right, Remus" Harry mused before reading his letter.

_Potter,_

_First things first; if you're reading this, then you have indeed fulfilled the prophecy and have come out unscathed, unlike myself. I have sent a similar letter to Lupin, and if both of you are alive you will have to be in each others presence for the letters to be read. If only you are alive, then no one will be able to read Lupin's letter and vice versa. Secondly, you are probably wondering why in Merlin's name I would write a letter to you of all people. I said I would endeavour to repay what you did at Malfoy Manor, and I am a wizard of my word._

_I did not truly believe that I would survive this war, hoped, yes, wished, yes, but never believed. I assumed that the Dark Lord would find out about my allegiances and dispose of me, something you confirmed when you told me about his rebirth. I will never understand exactly what possessed you to follow me, considering how I acted towards you. I do not apologise for the way I treated you during your time at Hogwarts…I merely had to keep up appearances for the Dark Lord. Considering who your father was, it was not terribly difficult to act like that._

_You know how I loathed you because of your father, but I also loathed you for the fact that what you would do when you found out that I was a Death Eater…or rather what you would do if you were your father. He was exceptionally arrogant, and always got his way, something I always hated him for considering how I was brought up. I envisaged yourself to be exactly like your father…something that Black also did from what I've heard._

_I now admit that I was wrong in assuming that, yes Potter you read that correctly. The prophecy would have made your fathers' already swollen head grow even larger. He would have revelled in the fact that the fate of our world was up to him. You, however, never bothered telling anyone until you had virtually no choice, trying instead to focus on it by yourself._

_There is one final thing you might like to know. Should you defeat the Dark Lord, the dark mark will be removed on those who are not loyal to him. Since you are reading this, I have not been fortunate enough to see this freedom. I hope my death was not some foolish act that would befit a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, like getting hit by a stray Killing curse._

_Just know that if I didn't repay my debt to you, then that is the only regret I have._

_Severus Snape_

Harry looked up as he finished with a slightly stunned look on his face. Remus looked a similar way before he turned to Harry.

"I take it that yours is from Severus also."

"Yeah. He would have been free if he had survived."

Remus gave him a questioning look, so Harry explained the bit about the dark mark. When he had finished, both of them stood in silence for a moment, reflecting on their letters before Remus suggested for them to go to the prison. Harry nodded, but not before feeling another pang of sorrow for his Potions Professor.

* * *

Harry smiled grimly as he looked around the grounds just outside of Azkaban.

"Ah, I see this place hasn't changed in six months. I wonder what happened to Roger Hammond. I should've asked Fudge if he could get the Order of Merlin too!"

Remus chuckled, "I somehow doubt Roger would appreciate it, Harry."

"Where are all the Aurors?"

"I thought I told you. The Dementors aren't letting anyone near this place. I'm surprised they haven't yet come out here and…"

Remus was cut off when a black cloaked figure could be seen gliding towards them.

"Er, hello. My name's Harry Potter. I'm not sure if you remember me, but…"

'You defeated our previous master. You also have the power to destroy us. We are honoured to have you as our new master. What do you request of us?'

"Well. You can tell who's guilty and who isn't, right?" Harry asked.

'That is correct master' the Dementor answered.

"Alright then. I guess you might as well take the souls of those who are guilty, but only after they have trials. I believe that was our agreement, was it not?"

'You are wise master. You seek to repay us, when it is us who are in debt to you.'

Harry was confused. "What are you talking about? I only got Bob to agree to my terms if I offered you all the souls of Voldemort's Death Eaters. How can you be in debt to me?"

'You have the power to destroy us. If we do anything that displeases you, you shall be well within your right to dispose of us. How can we best serve you, master?'

"Er, Remus? Help please!"

"You could just ask them to patrol Azkaban like they did before, but not to feed on anyone who is innocent" Remus suggested.

"Good idea. Do what he said, but of course you may take your share of guilty souls first, as our agreement stated" Harry said.

'Thank you master. We shall do our utmost to not displease you.'

The Dementor then glided off back inside the prison walls leaving Remus and Harry alone again.

Just before they apparated back to Hogwarts, Remus turned to Harry and grinned, "told you they're your pets!"

Harry just glared at the older wizard and replied "go bite yourself, Remus" before he grabbed his surrogate Godfather and they both disappeared in a single flash of orange light.

* * *

Harry and the others were in the Great Hall waiting for the closing feast to begin. McGonagall had already informed them that no house cup would be awarded this year. The Halls had been decorated with banners from all four houses, as well as a black one out of respect for those who lost their lives defending the school. Professor McGonagall stood up to address the school for the final time this year.

"So ends another school year. We all can now look forward to a safe holiday, for the first time in a long time" she gave Harry a smile as she said this before continuing,

"But with victory comes a cost. Several people were lost, and their lives should not be forgotten. Remember those who gave their lives so that we can carry on with ours. In related news, a ceremony for all those who perished shall be held here in the Great Hall in two weeks time. You all are more than welcome to attend.

"Before we begin the feast, I would like to say that we have found a replacement Professor for the recently vacated Potions classes. Miss Granger has decided to stay and teach that particular subject, with Professor Sinistra taking over Professor Snape's role of Slytherin Head of House. Now that is all I have to say, so please help yourself to the feast."

Nearly everyone in the Hall were shocked with the last announcement, and Harry turned to Hermione to ask her if what McGonagall said was true, but Ron beat him to it.

"Did I just hear right? After seven years, you're staying here, to teach _Potions_?"

"Yes Ron, that's right. The last two years have been really enjoyable in Potions. Snape was quite a good teacher when he wanted to be. Besides, after seven years here, why would I _want_ to leave?"

"She's right Ron. Potions was one of the more interesting subjects I did over the last two years. Mind you, you'll have to keep those pesky seventh years under control!" Harry answered and he shot Ginny a mock glare.

"If I was doing Potions, Harry, I would hex you right about now!" Ginny replied with a grin.

"But seriously, good luck Hermione. If anyone is cut out to be a teacher, it's you."

"Thanks Harry, but you wouldn't make a bad teacher either."

The rest of the feast passed, with most students, even Malfoy, coming up to Hermione and wishing her luck, and before long it was time to head to the station to catch the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville were sitting in their carriage reflecting on everything that happened to them over their years at Hogwarts. Harry laughed as Ron recounted how he, Harry and Hermione had become friends after the troll incident in their first year. They all were stunned when Harry told them how he had defeated the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, and how he and Hermione had saved Sirius and themselves from the Dementors using Hermione's timeturner.

When it came to what had happened during the year just gone, no one could quite find the words. Harry had only known Luna Lovegood since the start of his fifth year, but she was one of the few who believed him and Dumbledore that Voldemort had returned. Harry remembered that she was also one of the few people at that stage who could see the thestrals. But Harry knew his feelings were nothing compared to what Ron and Ginny must be going through.

Since the loss of two of their brothers, the redheads had put on a brave face, but their friends knew it was purely a mask. Deep down, the anguish and pain was slowly ebbing away, but it would take a long time before the wounds fully healed. Percy had been forgiven since it was because of him helping Harry gain access to Azkaban that played a vital role in Voldemort's downfall. The five of them vowed to attend the funeral service to pay their respect to everyone who gave their life during the final battle.

The train slowed as it reached Kings Cross station and Harry sighed as he realised it would be the last time he would ever ride it. Harry looked out the window and could hardly believe how many people were at the station, but the reason soon became apparent once he exited. The moment he did, everyone started to applaud him, and Harry had to admit that he felt quite embarrassed. After a couple of hours the crowd dispersed, and Harry was able to exit through the portal into the muggle world.

He spotted his relatives talking to Remus, who waved when he spotted Harry.

"And here he is. The boy-who-defeated-Voldemort-again."

"Gee thanks, _Remy_!"

Remus glared before smirking, "oh be quiet! I guess I did deserve that, didn't I."

"So, where to Harry?" his Uncle asked.

"What do you mean? Why exactly are you guys here anyway? I thought I'd just be going back to the mansion?"

"Well you are, but Remus has told us that you have some sort of sports car which Vernon would like to see. Besides, Dudley here wants to visit that mansion of yours again. And I also wouldn't mind having another chat with my sister" Aunt Petunia answered and Harry smiled.

"Well then, I guess I can do that. We'll have to wait for a bit so no one will see me enlarge my car."

They all nodded and made their way into the parking lot. Harry found an empty area, and after making sure no one was around, he pulled out the model Jaguar and enlarged it. The looks on his relatives' faces were priceless. As Harry and Remus got in, Harry wound down the window to talk to his still speechless relatives.

"I suggest you guys get to your car, I'll wait for you so you can follow us."

His relatives got to Vernon's car while Harry followed them. Just before they got in, Harry got a glint in his eye and grinned. "Just try to keep up with me alright!"

He then revved the engine and dropped the clutch, leaving Kings Cross station in a cloud of tyre smoke.


	33. Chapter 33 – Reflections

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Harry Potter, the boy-who-raced, lol!

Chapter 21 appears to be working for myself, Cynthia. Which bit did it cut out on? I can email you (if you want) that chapter if you are still having problems with it.

Irony; '_getting hit by a stray Killing curse_' which, of course, is kind of what happened. Foolish though…_certainly_ not. The 'ultimate sacrifice' is a somewhat more fitting term I believe.

Now for the chapter that never was. I had thought about writing the memorial, but never actually got around to it. Why? I wasn't sure myself if I would be able to write it to my satisfaction. However, your review, Lyons, decided it for me; it would be a bit cruel _not_ to write the service. In the end, I decided against adding Bob since he wasn't human, but I did consider it (that will make sense at the end of it). I spent basically a full day coming up with this…the first completely new chapter for this story since I finished the draft of it in January.

That also means that there is STILL one more chapter to go after this one (it's set a few years later however. So you _could_ say that this is the last true chapter)!

Oh, and what's this 'hard work' thing you mentioned, color? I had too much fun writing my stories for it to be considered 'work', lol!

* * *

**Chapter 33 – Reflections**

Harry looked at himself in the mirror and eventually nodded his approval; white shirt, black pants and a long black trench coat. It was pretty much exactly the same attire that Trent had worn the first time Harry had met him. He didn't bother trying to tame his hair, the portrait of Lily and the Marauders had mentioned how fruitless this task was several times. He looked at his watch and noted that he had just under two hours to get to Hogwarts in time for the ceremony.

He shrugged and decided he might as well be early for once. Only two weeks had passed, and Harry was already beginning to miss Hogwarts. He arrived and greeted the few people already gathered before making his way inside to the Great Hall where the memorial service was to take place. He wasn't really surprised to see the hall had been charmed to several times its size again. Nor was he surprised to find Remus making sure they had enough seats for everyone, but he was a little miffed at the enormous empty marble wall at the front of the hall.

"Hello Harry. I didn't expect to see you this early. What do you think of it?"

"Hi Remus. I don't even know what it's for."

Remus smiled. "One of the few brilliant suggestions from our Minister. He thought it would be a good idea to list the names of everyone who didn't make it through either war. He even paid for it himself."

"Really? How is it going to work?"

"Well, from what I heard, everyone will be invited to come up and add names of family and friends. Tonks told me that the wall's even charmed to engrave the names in the house colour of each person."

Harry nodded in reply. He thought it was a great idea, but was amazed it had been Fudge who suggested it.

Harry walked back outside, leaving Remus to busy himself with the final preparations. He spotted two figures with flame red hair wearing black robes and florescent green ties.

"Afternoon Fred, George" Harry politely acknowledged.

"Harry old chap, good to see you…" George started.

"Could've picked a better backdrop though" Fred finished, looking around at the sombre atmosphere that had already begun to descend.

Harry just nodded before asking "how's the business going?"

That brightened the twins up a bit and Fred smiled before answering him. "Pretty good actually. Since you're our partner, tell me what you think of this."

Fred then gestured to George, who pressed the knot of his tie. Instantly his robe started to glow a soft gold colour, while Fred confirmed what Harry thought it was.

"Wizard's glowing garb. After all, you did say we could do it after you beat him."

"You missed the hair though" Harry said with a small smile.

"Now, now, Harry. Do you really think that little of us?" George replied with a grin, before he tapped his tie again. Harry stood in shock as the familiar red hair of George Weasley changed into a deep golden colour instead.

"We haven't figured out how to make it stick up though yet. These two ties are the only prototypes we've got."

"Looks good guys" Harry told them before he spotted Seamus Finnegan who had just arrived from the front gates.

"Hi Seamus, how're you going?" he asked, shaking his fellow classmate's hand after he had walked over to him.

"Not too bad thanks, Harry. I mean, Dean was my best mate and all that, but…it's alright. He did all he could."

"I'm sure he did. After all, he was a Gryffindor."

Seamus grinned back at Harry, who then made his way over to Dennis Creevey.

"I'm sorry, Dennis."

"What for, Harry? Colin died doing what he always wanted to; fighting alongside you."

"But still…"

"Don't worry about it. Sure it hurts…quite a lot, but I'd rather have what happened than still have that monster loose."

Harry nodded, but noticed Dennis' eyes beginning to water.

"All he talked about when Dumbledore announced that he was back, was how he wanted to fight him, just like you did. You were his hero, Harry. Still are I imagine."

"I just wish no one had to die though."

"I wish he didn't either, but you couldn't save everyone, Harry. To do what you did was incredible. I'm sure Colin felt that his passing was worth it."

Harry nodded and watched as Dennis walked over to his parents. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Ginny standing behind him.

"Ron and Hermione are talking to Luna's Dad. I thought you might like to as well."

"Thanks Ginny. You seen Fred and George?"

She shook her head, so Harry briefly told her about their latest product, and suggested for her to go and see them. As she walked away, Harry made his way over to Mr. Lovegood, who spotted him approaching.

"Harry Potter, such a pleasure to meet you in person. Luna told me all about you and your friends over the last couple of years."

"She was a really great person, sir" Harry replied.

"She was an even better daughter. She does have a tendency to exaggerate things however. She once told me that a group of you flew to the Ministry on thestrals!"

"We did that at the end of my fifth year. It was the night I lost my Godfather."

Mr. Lovegood's face went from amusement to shock as Harry spoke these words.

"Oh, then I apologise. My deepest sympathies to you then."

"And to you, sir" Harry politely added before Cornelius Fudge arrived, and motioned for everyone to proceed to the Great Hall so the ceremony could begin.

* * *

He sat in silence as the family and friends of those who perished all came onto the stage to say a short speech. It wasn't long before Mr. and Mrs Weasley spoke a few words about their two sons, before Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all made their way to the stage to also add their own pieces about their brothers. They all said how much Bill loved working in Egypt, and how they had forgiven Percy for acting like he did three years ago. Harry saw Penelope Clearwater shed quite a few tears on the other side of the hall.

Soon, the final name was brought forward, and Harry listened as Professor McGonagall told everyone how much of a hard and diligent worker Snape was. He watched as she moved back to her seat to wait for the next person to speak. It never came, and a hot swoop of anger washed over Harry before he stood up and made his way to the stage, many people looking rather stunned to see him do so.

Harry cleared his throat, more for effect than necessity. "Professor Severus Snape was a wizard of honour. He was a true Slytherin through and through; sly and cunning, but also incredibly gifted with the fine art of Potion making. He and my father never saw eye-to-eye during their time at Hogwarts, something he held over me for nearly the entire time I was here.

"My Dad saved his life twice, and he never got the chance to repay him for that. He instead decided on the next best thing; saving _my_ life on more than one occasion. In return, I wrongly accused him of trying to kill me in my first year and nearly got him killed in my third. During the final battle, he pushed me out of the way of a Killing curse from Voldemort, only for it to hit him instead. He thought that he owed me for saving his life earlier this year, but I believe that it was me who owed him. Thank you, Severus Snape, for treating me not as some sort of celebrity, but as an equal."

Stunned silence greeted his comments, until Remus came up and added his own speech. He was quickly followed by Malfoy and Hermione, along with a handful of other Professors.

The ceremony ended, with everyone waiting patiently to add the names of loved ones who perished during both wars on the massive marble wall. Harry hung back, wanting to be the last to do so, something Remus also elected to do.

"That was a very noble thing you just did, Harry."

"It was the very least I could do, Remus. You know what it's like to be alone, and I…I just couldn't let no one else say anything. He was one the best Potion masters in the world."

"I know" Remus answered. He was all too aware of how gifted Snape was. After all, it was he who always made the Wolfsbane potion for Remus, and never once did he get it wrong.

The crowd slowly dissipated, and eventually there were only a handful of people left in the hall.

Harry looked up at the enormous marble wall which was now covered in the names of those who gave their lives during both wars. He and Remus were the last to approach the giant memorial and Harry gestured for Remus to go first. They had talked beforehand, and it was decided for Remus to add his own parents, Severus, Peter and Sirius to the wall, while Harry would add Trent and his parents.

Harry watched as Remus stood back to inspect his handiwork. Severus' name shone out in brilliant green, while both Peter and Sirius had their names proudly displayed in gleaming maroon. Remus then placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked at him, seeing the sadness in the eyes of the young wizard.

Harry slowly made his way to the plaque, and released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. His fingers trailed across the engraved names of those Remus had just added before raising his own wand. Just before he spoke the names, he looked back at Remus.

"What colour will Trent's be? I mean, he didn't attend Hogwarts as a student."

"True, I believe his name will be in black. Are you alright to do this, Harry? I can if you like."

Harry appreciated the gesture, but shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, Remus. If you can add those names to it, I can do these."

Remus nodded and watched as Harry added his contribution to the wall, with his parents names in maroon and Trent's in black. Again, Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder as he stepped away from the wall.

"They will remain in our hearts forever, Harry."

Harry nodded, not trusting his voice at this stage. He and Remus then started to walk away when Harry remembered something from his second year. He stopped before looking back at the wall.

Remus also stopped when he noticed Harry wasn't following him. He was about to ask what he was doing, but thought better of it as he figured he just wanted to look at all the names again. He was therefore quite taken aback when Harry went up to the wall and added another name, one he had only heard a handful of times before.

"Why did you add him, Harry?"

"Because of the similarities we shared. And, technically, he was the very first casualty, so it's only fitting that his name's on it as well."

Remus nodded before the two of them left the Great Hall, their footsteps echoing throughout the now empty room with the light reflecting off the final name Harry had added; Tom Marvolo Riddle.


	34. Chapter 34 – Final Flight

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

Hmm, I was expecting you to ask more about why I had Harry add him to the wall…glad you felt it was a nice gesture! Should I add more to it…might as well. I shall quote Trent from Dormant; "_I'm what Tom Riddle could have been had he not fallen into the depths of darkness he chose._" It just seemed…appropriate to put him on there. I also hope the whole thing wasn't too morbid. I thought about having a _really_ long chapter, with loads of wailing, speeches and stuff…but decided a shorter, more 'to the point' chapter would be a bit easier to both read and write.

Well, that's it. You can stop reading my story now if you like, it's finished! This chapter takes place a few years later. And no, the last true word in my story (obviously I end it with 'Fin', but that doesn't _really_ count) isn't 'scar'…it ends with…nah, I won't spoil it (but I _will_ admit that I believe the previous chapter had a much better ending)! Nor did Grimmauld Place end up getting attacked either. I just didn't see the point since no one was there apart from Bob…or was it because I'm lazy, I can't remember now!

As I've written before, I have an epilogue thanking everyone. I sincerely hope you enjoyed my story ('stories' even!) as much as I did while writing it. I'll do my best to thank everyone (by name) who has reviewed any of my stories up to the day I post it, the epilogue, on the site.

Again, any questions about my fics to this point (yes, I've still got the prequel to go!) that you would like me to answer, now's your chance. I'll give it a full week, more likely two, so……I'll get in _real_ early now; thanks everyone who has reviewed any of my stories!

So…here's the final chapter (lol, I'm not jumping on you, Data!) of 'Harry Potter and the Beginning of the End'.

* * *

**Chapter 34 – Final Flight**

Marauder's Mansion was the same as before, even four years on. The Fidelius charm had been removed, but apart from that, the only differences were that the Order had disbanded and the house was now home to four people and an overenthusiastic house elf; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Dobby. Hermione still worked at Hogwarts as the Potions Professor. Ron and Ginny both worked at the Ministry, Ron for the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and Ginny in the Magical beasts department.

Dobby had insisted on being Harry's house elf, but Harry only agreed after informing the tiny elf that he'd be getting paid for doing any work around the mansion, and would be treated as an equal. Harry himself still played for the Cannons, and, along with Oliver and Ryan, the team had won the last three league titles.

A rather loud rumbling noise was heard as a figure on a motorbike entered the driveway. They got off the bike, removed their helmet to unveil a messy black-haired man with green eyes and glasses before he made his way inside. He then headed to the kitchen where a bushy brown-haired woman was just finishing lunch. Just before he could greet her, a screech came from the next room and a white blur shot through and landed on the man's shoulder.

"Hedwig! Good to see you girl. Was Pig being his usual annoying self?"

The owl hooted in response and Harry couldn't hide his grin.

"Harry! You're back early, how was practice?" Hermione asked.

"Rather dull, Hermione. We didn't practice at all. It was just a run down on when we're leaving tomorrow, and what we'll be doing when we get there" he replied.

"I'm not sure if I can make it…" she began, but Harry cut her off.

"C'mon Hermione! You promised you'd come to the final! I've got all of you great tickets, even Dobby's coming!"

Hermione sighed, "I know that, Harry. But some of us have to _work_ for a living you know!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "really. Gee I never knew that. In case you've forgotten, I _will_ be one of those this year…"

"I know, I know. Remus has retired from the Defence post to take over Minerva's Transfiguration ones so she can concentrate on being Headmistress. I was the one who suggested you apply for it" she interrupted.

"Yeah, you along with about a hundred others! I even got a ruddy owl from Draco telling me to apply for it! Besides, you have to come _because_ of that. This'll be my last ever Quidditch match."

Hermione sighed again before relenting, "very well. I shall take the weekend off preparing my Potions classes for the upcoming year to come with you to America."

"Thanks Hermione! Now I've just got to pop over and see if Remus can come. I'll see you later alright?"

"Ok Harry. I'll give these tickets to Ron and Ginny when they get back from the Ministry."

Harry nodded, went into the living room and grabbed some floo powder. He then stepped into the fireplace and spoke clearly, "Lupin's Lair" before vanishing in a bright green flame.

* * *

As Harry scrambled out of the fireplace, he looked around to get his bearings. Harry hadn't visited Remus' house for nearly two years and the changes he'd made were incredible. Harry had insisted on paying Remus for all the money he spent on Marauder's Mansion, but Remus stubbornly refused. Since he had received half of Sirius' money and the Order of Merlin, Remus had been quite well off and so didn't see the need for Harry to repay him. So instead of arguing, Harry had given Remus one of the properties that the Potters owned, which just so happened to be a few blocks down the road from the mansion.

Remus wasn't impressed when he'd found out, but after being told all the reasons why Harry had done it, he eventually gave in and had moved in shortly afterwards. Most of the furniture was of a similar style to those in the mansion, but nowhere near as large, as Remus was living here by himself.

Harry spotted the empty portrait frame above the fireplace and smiled. He and Remus had made up a new frame so that the Marauders and Lily were able to rotate between the two locations. He also spotted the portrait of Remus undergoing his final werewolf transformation before Trent cured him some six years ago, as well as some pictures of the Marauders final ever Hogwarts prank.

Harry was about to call out when he heard someone in the kitchen,

"For crying out loud! How does Molly make this look so _easy_!"

Harry smiled and made his way into the kitchen. He had to suppress a laugh with what he saw, or rather with what he couldn't see. The entire kitchen was filled with steam, and Harry could barely make out the kitchen table.

"What's the matter, Remus? Not having trouble with the tea _again_ are you?"

"Oh shut up, Harry. If you think it's so simple, why don't you do it then!" the older wizard snapped back.

Harry raised an eyebrow but nonetheless proceeded to open the windows to clear the steam from the room, summon a cup and teabag before waiting for the kettle to boil. Once this was done, Harry poured the hot water into Remus' cup then levitated it over to the table, all while sporting a rather bored look on his face.

"I always have sugar with my tea" Remus pouted.

"Then get it yourself!" Harry retorted, and Remus scowled before pouring some sugar into his cup and sitting down.

He then asked "so what brings you here to my humble home, Mr. Potter?"

"Well Mr. Lupin, it seems someone has been rather generous and has offered you some prized seats at the World Cup Quidditch final this weekend. I'm merely delivering them to you."

Remus smiled, "sounds fine, Harry. How come you haven't gone over there yet, it's in the United States isn't it?"

"Yeah, we're playing at Portland. The team leaves tomorrow morning. That gives us a few days to acclimatise and get one or two practice sessions in."

"Should be a piece of cake for you. All the team play for the Cannons…"

"Only me, Oliver and Ryan. The others don't" Harry interrupted.

"Ok, but you guys have won the last three league titles. So you can't tell me you don't know each others game!"

Harry chuckled, "all right, you've got me there. But still, we haven't played in little over a month, so it'll be good to iron out any kinks in our game. Are you going to be able to make it?"

"Certainly. I wouldn't miss James' son playing his last Quidditch match, which just happens to be the World Cup final, for anything! Count me in."

"Great, then I hope to catch up with you before the game on Sunday. If I don't, I most certainly will afterwards, maybe with a nice firewhiskey."

"Hopefully as a celebration. Good luck for the game if I don't see you before then."

"Cheers Remus. I'd better go. I still have some things to pack before we leave tomorrow."

Harry bade Remus farewell and chose to walk back to Marauder's Mansion.

* * *

"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the 2002 World Cup final between Bulgaria and England. It looks like the weather will hold off, rain was forecast for today, but as I look up, I can't see any clouds in the sky at all. Wonderful Quidditch conditions if you ask me. I'm Lee Jordan, and joining me in the commentary box is former American Captain, Jimmy Phelps."

"Afternoon Lee. Should be a great game lined up today. As you say, conditions are perfect, as is the norm for this part of the world."

"Not as good as England but anyway. We're in Portland, Oregon for this game. Let's have a look at the way the teams got to the final, firstly Bulgaria."

"Yes Lee. Bulgaria easily topped the group stage against Wales, Russia, and Australia. They then disposed of Germany in the quarter-final before meeting Ireland."

"In a rematch of the 1994 World Cup final no less, Jimmy. And just like the final, Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum caught the snitch, but this time Ireland weren't over 150 points ahead and Bulgaria advanced to their third straight final."

"It was a wonderful effort by Krum as well. If you remember Lee, he was injured in the last game of the group stage, and chose to miss the quarter-final."

"I do remember that Jimmy. As you rightly said, it was a great effort by Krum. He wasn't at his best, but he still was too good for Ireland."

"Indeed he was. Now I know you're looking forward to this Lee, but try to keep your patriotism in check please!"

"Oh be quiet Jimmy! Yes, time to look at how the truly marvellous, magnificent, majestic…"

"That's quite enough Lee! Now to see how England got to the final. They didn't have it anywhere as easy as Bulgaria during the group stage. They finished second in the group behind Ireland which meant they had to face the amazing, brilliant…"

"Totally outclassed American team in the quarter-final. Thanks largely to keeper Oliver Wood, England crushed the Americans…"

"That's not nice!"

"No, but it IS true. 330 points to 30, a flogging if you ask me, Jimmy."

"Well, yes, but no one DID ask for your opinion, Lee. You are right though. England really came into their own in the finals, and probably go into this game as slight favourites."

"Well, I would have to agree with that, Jimmy. England got knocked out at this stage during the last World Cup, but after winning the quarter-final, they met France in the semi-final, which was over before it had really begun."

"Quite right Lee. English seeker, Harry Potter…"

At that stage, Jimmy's voice was drowned out by a roar from the crowd

"Looks like some people have heard of Potter before, Jimmy. Not hard really when you remember he basically single-handedly beat the last Dark Lord, Voldemort."

No hush came over the crowd as Lee said this. Now that Voldemort was gone forever, no one feared his name anymore.

"Yes, and it seems he's taken his fight to the Quidditch pitch now, Lee. In the semi against France, Potter broke the all-time record of the fastest ever capture of a snitch in a professional game. Three seconds dead after the whistle blew to start the game, it was all over. A bit disappointing really, because France would have given England a decent run…"

"Not a chance Jimmy! Potter and Wood used to play on the same house team at school, and know each other's game backwards. Throw in Ryan Mitchell, one of the game's best beaters who just happens to play for the Chudley Cannons alongside Wood and Potter, and you've got an exciting line-up. But anyway, that brings us to today."

"It certainly does Lee. England finished second in their group behind Ireland after losing, despite Potter catching the snitch in their round robin game. However that's all in the past now. Both teams are in top form, the final is scheduled to start soon, and we're just waiting for the teams to come out onto the pitch."

No sooner had Jimmy said this, the officials made their way onto the centre of the field.

"And there are the officials. So that means that the teams can't be too far behind."

"No, they aren't Lee. Here comes the Bulgarian team, led by captain and chaser Dimitri Stoichkov. The rest of the team is as follows, the other two chasers Tzanko Letchkov and Emil Hubchev. The beaters are Zlatko Sirokov and Petar Ivanov. Have you noticed how many of these players last name ends in a 'V'?"

"Why yes I have, Jimmy. Keeper for the Bulgarian team, and in good form too I might add, is Ilian Krasimir. No 'V' there Jimmy! Which brings us to their star seeker."

Lee stopped at this point and Jimmy took over,

"Comes into this game maybe still under an injury cloud, but showing strong signs of returning to his best. Put your hands together for Viktor Krum!"

Another enormous roared echoed around the stadium as the Bulgarian team circled the pitch to show their appreciation.

"Now here comes the moment we've all been…" Lee began.

"You mean _you've_ been waiting for!" Jimmy interrupted.

"Shut your trap Jimmy! Here comes the English team, led of course by their keeper and captain, Oliver Wood. The beaters Ryan Mitchell and Troy Ferdinand follow him out. The chasers exit next, Alice Rooney, Jeffrey Strauss and James Clarkson. And last, but certainly not least, the new record holder for the fastest ever capture of a snitch. You know him, even without his scar. Please welcome the seeker, Harry Potter!"

Lee's voice had been drowned out long before Harry made his entrance into the stadium, and didn't stop until the team had completed two laps of the pitch, and Harry himself had motioned for the crowd to quieten down. As Harry settled himself directly above the rest of the team, waiting for the match to begin, he saw Viktor doing the same.

"So, ve meet again, Potter."

Harry nodded. "yes, and this time it's where we both belong, Krum. In the air scoparum fermamentum."

Viktor looked questionably at Harry who shrugged, "I just meant that we both belong in the air on broomsticks. Scoparum fermamentum is Latin for supporting broomstick."

Viktor nodded his head and spoke, "indeed. I haf been looking forward to this for a long time."

Harry agreed, "so have I. Good luck, and may the best team win!"

As the referee released the balls from their trunk, Harry couldn't help but smile. After everything he went through during his time at Hogwarts, he was now, finally, free.

_**Fin**_


	35. Sort of an Epilogue

I own nothing. J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball saga, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, Monkey Island and anything else that even remotely looks far to creative for me to just make up! Please don't say I didn't warn you! Yes I'm lazy and can't be bothered writing another 'warning' thingy, so it's the same as my previous story!

* * *

**A big thank you to everyone!**

So…there you go, my stories about Harry's final two years are done! Had a right royal blast writing them, and glad that quite a few other people seemed to enjoy them too! Again, I probably didn't need to put my 'warning' at the top, but anyway. Hmm, just realised that my 'warning' isn't exactly accurate…the stuff about Bob was my idea now that I think about it. So I guess that 'all' should go, oh well…bit late now! And yes, I explain how I came up with Bob in this 'chapter' as I promised.

Told you I'd have some Quidditch later on! Why did I choose to end it there and not write the match? Simple really, I wanted Harry to be doing the one thing he truly loves…flying. I didn't write the game because I wanted to leave it with Harry and Viktor, the two best players in the books, against each other. I didn't see the point in trying to write a match, when the result is irrelevant. Harry goes back to Hogwarts to teach Defence, regardless if he wins or not. And have I mentioned before that I don't like writing Quidditch!

If you want a result…I was thinking a draw (unsure if Harry or Viktor got the snitch, probably Harry though), then stopping it as they went to a penalty shootout. But that situation seemed a little beyond my ability to put it into words, action-wise anyway (I knew _exactly_ how I wanted it in my head but…)! Not only that, it'd would most likely have been even more of a let down for you reading it; getting right into it, _then_ having it cut off. At least this way, you can think up all sorts of results for it!

And why Portland? My cousin lives there ok! And as much as I'd like to…I probably won't be able to go to his wedding this year…much to my annoyance. I really want to go, but don't have enough holiday's saved up (halfway around the world, I'd want at _least_ two full weeks), plus I've gone to one of my mates' wedding this year…but still!

You might also like to know that Harry uses 'REMUS exhausts' on both his Jag and his bike…I'm not kidding, it's a real company (they even have a little engraved wolf on them! This isn't a shameless plug for them, I just thought it was quite funny!)! Hmm, I wonder if Moony is getting a cut of their profits…

* * *

In terms of ultimate power levels, I'll help you out a bit…fine, I'll just tell you! Trent's level is/was around 28 million and Voldemort had 13 mill. So combined that gives 'Voldemort' 41 million. Harremus had a power level of 42.5 million (22.7 for Harry and 19.8 for Remus). Harry was getting beaten (rather easily) by Voldemort in their final battle…but with Remus' increased senses and stuff (courtesy of Moony), he was able to negate that when they fused. 

I did write in Dormant that, magically, Harry is the most powerful with the exception of Voldemort himself. That is just something I personally believe. After all, he conjured a fully-fledged Patronus when 13, didn't he? Something which I'm pretty sure stunned Remus (and quite a few others!) enormously.

I am curious about a couple of things…the first is that I was totally shocked by the amount of people who enjoyed reading these. My sincere thanks…again! The other thing was to do with Dormant Power; Dumbledore's death. While I had a few people tell me how horrible I was to do that, and also say I didn't have much of a reaction to it (but I believe that was before I started to post BotE which had the funeral in it), I had no one mention the one thing I thought you would.

What did I think you'd ask? Why I made it appear so…_easy_. No 'glorious battle' or anything like that. I did it because of one reason, and one…well two really; shock value, and a gentle introduction as to how powerful the 'new' Voldemort is (Trent is most certainly not afraid of him. He highly respects Albus, but isn't afraid of him). Oh, and I am yet to read a story that has actually done this too. Read some where other Professors have died, but not Albus…or where Albus dies in the final battle. I just wanted to be a bit different I guess (anyone who wants to argue is more than welcome. I'm always on the lookout for good fics to read!).

Now, 'Bob the Dementor'…a quite intriguing idea I came up with one night. Glad some of you found his name quite…ridiculous! It's taken from 'Monkey Island 3' when you first meet 'Murray, the evil demonic skull'…he's hilarious (if you haven't played it, you really should)!

Back to the topic though; I was thinking about how best to have the prophecy fulfilled, and struck upon it by luck. I went through a bit of a phase where I was reading loads of those 'Harry is betrayed and sent to Azkaban' fics when I did. I read quite a few (alright, a lot!), but none explained Dementors (as you pointed out to me, Banisher)…so I decided to have a whirl at it. I had also just finished rereading Prisoner of Azkaban, our first glimpse about the Dementors, and the whole idea fell into place. Dementors can't be killed, and nor did Voldemort that Halloween night.

That was when I decided to settle it by having either Voldemort or Harry (yup, I did consider killing Harry…but cut that idea when I wanted to put in the next World Cup stuff) losing their soul and hence losing the chance to 'live' as the prophecy states (remember, once your soul's gone, you ain't getting it back…unless you buy it from the comic store like in 'The Simpsons'!). Then it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it; either have some ancient spell 'found' or find the key behind the Dementors kiss…or get a Dementor to do it for them!

And that in itself created some problems. I do not consider myself creative, and therefore had no desire to delve into trying to come up with a brand spanking new spell, explain the origins of it, etc, so I thought more about what little we've been told about Dementors. But how to work it into my story…I needed either a new Dementor to be created, or for Harry to 'borrow' one. As I was writing about Bob for the first time, I then had the idea about him being the 'remains' of Voldemort from his first reign, and I started to get onto a bit of a roll.

I remember Dumbledore saying in the PoA movie that they don't distinguish between the enemy and who's in their way (or something like that), and to not give them a reason to come after you. That kind of contradicts (in my opinion) with when Voldemort tells his Death Eaters at his rebirth that the Dementors are their natural allies. If they have no sense of thought, then how would he get them to follow him? I came to the conclusion that he must have offered them something…and guessed muggles souls (why else would he raid and stuff like that?).

It then occurred to me that the Ministry had the Dementors under their control whilst at Azkaban, and that they therefore must have some sense of loyalty to their 'master'. If they didn't, anyone who was in Azkaban would have had their soul sucked out (including a certain innocent animagus). That is why I had Bob explain to Harry about why they were after Sirius despite 'knowing' he was innocent. I then thought about the Patronus more, particularly _why_ you have to use your happiest thoughts to conjure it.

That is where the 'action - reaction' thing came in. Based on that, I started to write about the Dementors preferring miserable people's souls, since they take happy thoughts…you still with me? If so, good. If not, then I apologise.

Moving on…jeez, this _is_ taking a while to explain it! Anyway, continuing with that idea, I decided to have Harry offer him 'bad souls' (for lack of a better term), in return for working with him. And also the idea of having the Reducio Charm (which is what I called the modified Patronus…but didn't use that term at all in my story, how silly of me!) using hate and anger instead of happiness came to light as well.

After that, it was just a matter of writing the speech for Bob. I made it somewhat complex, since he isn't a human…if that makes sense. I had in mind a similar thing to Treebeard from LotR (hence the 'do not be hasty little master' comment) with his language.

I hope that answers (some of) your queries about how I came up with my 'in depth Dementor' ideas. If not…sorry, but it was kind of hard to put it into words, if I'm honest. I could have just left it at 'I came up with it one night', but thought I might get a few grumbles since I said I'd answer it! You know the really amusing thing is that as I was writing about Bob, the only thought going through my head was: 'this is the most _ridiculous_ thing I've ever read…in _any_ fic! No one in their right mind would _possibly_ find this interesting!' So, there you go…I guess I was wrong!

Um, a (very) belated explanation; the 'orange flash' apparation. I know that I've said this is the method that Harry and Trent use to apparate around like Dobby and the others, but why did I make it so different from normal apparation? I just felt it would be easier to do that, than explain in depth which one I was talking about.

A weak excuse? Perhaps, how about I add this to it; that particular apparation is used by house elves only. The spell Trent and Harry used to 'activate' it allows them to recreate its effects, but you could say it's a cannibalised version. Since Harry and Trent aren't house elves, their aura leaves the orange flash as a kind of residue. That is just the train of thought I had for it. I could have had Trent explain it…but then realised that since he doesn't see it when it happens, it would be rather pointless!

Relationships…I tried not to have any in them, mainly because I suck at trying to write romance (well, I think I do anyway. I found it quite tough to write the James and Lily stuff for my prequel!). As for a Harry – Hermione thing, I didn't plan on it. The only thing I can think of is that since they were Head Boy and Girl and that they had their own dorm…but I certainly didn't mean anything between them!

How about that…I'm the first to have the words 'dormant' and 'power' in their titles for a HP fic. That's quite…cool really! I don't really believe that…makes me warm and fuzzy inside!

* * *

Apologies time. I completely forgot that Harry smashed the mirror Sirius gave him. I did say that the Ministry revoked the 'underage magic' rule though…just imagine that repairing the mirror was one of the first things Harry did when he arrived back at Privet Drive! I have now fixed this in the very first chappie of Dormant Power :D 

Tonks and her parents…again, totally forgot that they were Sirius' 'good' rellies. Um…I don't really want to change that much to fit it in, but thanks Duckling!

Harry's scar…namely why it hardly 'burnt'. I didn't forget about this bit, but I only had it do it a couple times because I am under the impression that should Harry learn Occlumency, it would not only cut off his visions, but also that annoying fact every time he's near Voldemort. I am aware that this will most likely be proved totally wrong, since I have read on a few sites that the scar will be explained quite a bit in JKR's final two books.

Hagrid…I just found him incredibly difficult to write for. Also I couldn't find a way to genuinely work him into my fics…apart from the occasional cameo. So, yeah, sorry all you Hagrid fans!

Guess I should also apologise (again) for making Ron the 'betrayer' (and for killing Severus, and faking Remus' also). I did write that Firenze didn't know who it would be. Couldn't believe the amount of reviews all baying for my blood (figuratively at least…I think) for doing that! Serves me right for not posting ch 29 at the same time I guess.

Also, apologies for not finding out some other way to write 'for what felt like an eternity'…I must have used that bucket-loads of times! And for using 'darn' as opposed to 'damn' (ok, so I use 'damn' a few times!). I didn't realise that JKR actually writes it in her stories (at least I got 'ruddy' right!) until I recently reread Prisoner. Oh well, hindsight's such a wonderful thing!

I am also aware that you people will more than likely find loads of plot holes and stuff like that too…but I have _never_ claimed to be perfect (far from it actually)! These stories were just used by myself as a way to pass my time waiting for Half Blood Prince to be released (to be honest, I hadn't really considered posting them on here…glad I did though). There were a few things I would have liked to include in these fics, but never got the chance as they didn't really fit in anywhere.

And this will most definitely be the longest 'chapter' I'll ever write! Just to be on the safe side, you'll find a little treat (hopefully you'll appreciate it!) near the bottom of this epilogue that will, with any luck, make it not solely a non-related addition to my story, which will be the next one I start to post on here. As for when I start doing that…I shall wait to hear from my betas. I don't want to force either of them though, after all it should be quite a bit better once they go through it (no pressure guys, lol!).

* * *

Ok, now to the 'thanks' bit! Hmm, toughie really, you've all been great to me…guess I'll just go in order of when you first reviewed (for _all_ stories, not just these two). Names in brackets is who you are when I post this, as opposed to when you originally reviewed…if that makes sense (oh yes, I've had _this_ bit written for quite a while!). 

athenakitty – My first ever reviewer! Thanks athena for your comments. I didn't like that JKR killed off Sirius, but hey I can't really complain…I killed way more people off!

Sonicdale – First beta, cheers Sonic! Hope your stories turn out the way you want them to! You seriously were a _huge_ help I'll have you know! Even though I didn't really call on you a heck of a lot…that'll change for my prequel (thanks for looking it over!).

flute9217 – Oh yes, I wrote quite a few more chapters!

gereoajnb – I hope I updated fast enough…been told I write too quick…by several people!

Fangfoot – Cheers! I tried to give everyone time to digest each chapter before posting the next one.

Mika – I hope I answered your question to why Voldemort wanted to know about Trent.

Jaximillion – Hope you liked Harry's training…along with the rest of the stories!

projectjay – Apparently I'm now back on the 'search' list, so…thanks for asking! But without the 99…grrr! Glad you found me again actually!

Saetan – Well, I have to say I'm hooked on that cartoon! It's just so ridiculously funny!

Dbzfan550 – Sorry, I don't like putting author notes in the middle of my chapters, but I did say in the warning about DBZ.

ememz – 'A lot of potential'. Now I'm getting all embarrassed! Thanks though!

peanuts107 – Aaah, nutto (look at that, I didn't call you '107'!)…where to start? No, I know EXACTLY where to start; thank you (honestly, on my knees bowing here!) for convincing me to post 'You Were The Best Thing About Me'. Hope you hurry up and finish _your_ stories!

drreadwrite (varnished glass) – Yup, you can _really_ tell if a story is good or not after reading the first two chapters. Thanks for telling me that I missed some of Harry's classes, and taking the time to review it.

TuxedoMac – Don't really know what to say…'thanks' doesn't really seem enough. Hope you didn't think my stories were too predictable. Oh, and I told you I'd find something from 'The Matrix' to put into them (even if it wasn't that much)!

Keronshara – Thanks for pointing out that bit about Lethifolds…and the Head students room thingy! Hope I covered it up well enough!

gaul1 – Um…thanks, I think!

STARINA69 (SongOfStars) – Star, glad you liked it. Also glad you (and 107, and the others) thought me…um…worthy of being in your IMDb group! Grrrr about the whole 'pet Dementor' thing though…was it really _that_ obvious! And sorry again for my indiscretion on thread 40 (whistles innocently).

Pleione – Glad you liked them, even gladder (hey, spell check didn't pick that up! Oh, but it's not in the thesaurus, hmm…) that you took the time to review loads of chapters! And another with Remus as their favourite character, brilliant!

lil-timmy116 (dooil) – No he wasn't, but they found a way around it!

meganegreer21 – No worries, I intended to keep writing, believe me!

Locathah – Yeah, I know about Severus. Let me (try to!) explain. I wanted him to actually be…well human. I probably should have cut that bit out and put it somewhere in BotE (probably during Harry's 'detention' with him). So…sorry, but I hope you liked it anyway!

lil snuffles – Cheers. I got a fair few people telling me to hurry up and update, lol!

lil-snuffles25 – I'm guessing you're the same person as the above one, but if not, thanks!

jbfritz – Thanks for all your comments mate, glad you liked the stories!

Makotochi – Thanks, will (eventually!) get around to reading and reviewing your story…sounds quite interesting from the summary. I will say this though; I am HOPELESS at reviewing!

Padfoot's Fire – Yeah well…he kind of had to pass Potions, otherwise he couldn't get the truth from Peter using Veritaserum. I still live in hope that Peter will pay his debt to Harry…we shall see.

ThrainTalonwater – Ta, hope you enjoyed the rest of it.

ĐÄvE (goldenpatronus) – Hope I answered your question about the final battle. Oh, and ta for the reminder about 'c' too (I actually went through all my stories and changed 'practise' to 'practice'!). Could LV nick ones of those watches…yes, but since I didn't think about that, he didn't!

AmY – No worries, thanks for the comments.

swiz – Hope you could make sense of it…not sure how 'The Apprentice' would be as a stand alone. But I think it is now a lot better since I tweaked it in preparation for my prequel.

omega-slytherin – Wow, I don't really know what to write here…glad you liked it!

shadows13 – Again, cheers for the very helpful info. I think I've done that for them now!

albert87 – You're not the first (although I think you are on the reviews) who's told me that the style is 'fun' or 'right'. I just wrote it…fortunately, it made sense…I hope!

D.S. (Data Soong) – Have you figured out how to get out of your crossover story yet! Oh, and thanks!

Enderwig – I just have a feeling that JKR will do that to Dumbledore. I didn't really want to…but I honestly think it will be down to Harry to find the way to 'vanquish the Dark Lord' without having Dumbledore to help him in the final fight.

Lord Master Omega – Like the name actually, much better than mine! Thanks for the comment!

Vegico – Cheers (I feel all embarrassed now!). I won't be posting again in a little while though. I have now finished Remus' final year…but I'll be going through it before I post it. Will be up here in 2006, that's a promise!

Libby Bird (Irish Lady Knight) – Thanks, I know about my grammar…and spelling (but hey, I'll be the first to admit to that, trust me!). The second to say about my style (on here)…thanks! I found it to be one of the most challenging things to do.

Nightwing 509 – Glad you liked it…even though I don't think I wrote the word 'dormant' in the whole thing, excluding the title…and it's true, sorry about that! However, I did only write the word 'Umbridge' three times…well, four now I guess. That _has_ to count for something surely (wish they'd taken her to Grawp instead!)!

The Best witch of all – I switched stories because it was the changeover from Harry's 6th and 7th years. I didn't write it as a sequel as such…more as a continuation. Found it much easier to write it like that. Cheers for your comments!

Cryokinesis – Thanks, I'm happy with the way it turned out!

colorfree – Thanks, glad you liked it. Hope your writing, acting and music is going well for you (what, you didn't think I check all of your profiles? Well, I am always looking for good fics to read, so it was easier to go through your favourites, than 'search')! You didn't need to apologise though…I didn't expect the backlash I got from that chapter, but I accept that I deserved it!

Curalium Lacrimo – My stories pale into insignificance when put alongside the master herself! Can't wait for July 16…at least the stories helped take my mind off things!

Bailey Malfoy Potter – Hope you enjoyed my stories. I've read far too many where Harry gets with Ginny, or Hermione, or 'insert name here'. I personally don't have any particular pairing I like better, just as long as the author can make it believable. I, on the other hand, am hopeless at writing romance, so I didn't bother trying…which will make my prequel quite interesting to say the least (why couldn't James get with Lily _after_ they finish Hogwarts!)!

GreyGranian – Cheers. Hope you like my other stories!

Brenko – Glad you enjoyed it. Still think it's the best I've done…perhaps even the best I CAN do (I honestly didn't think anyone would read, let alone review, any of my fics!).

incident – I know what you mean about other stories…glad you found it a bit different, and that you liked it.

eliteshadow – No worries, hope you enjoyed this one too. Judging by the fact you wanted a copy of it, I'll assume you did!

True H.p. Fan – Um, not exactly sure what you mean. I know about the blood protection…are you saying that Voldemort already knows where Harry lives? But anyway, we don't know if the blood protection is still valid, do we? Now that Voldemort also has Harry's blood flowing through his veins…or have I totally missed something there (which wouldn't really surprise me, actually!)?

hathehariken – Cheers mate. In all honesty, Albus wasn't really vital in my stories…apart from his vision for Harry informing him about destroying Voldemort's soul.

Cori Aileen –Thanks about saying that it seems like the beginning of something good…I think! Sorry again about the opening being a bit…tedious.

Tirionelf – No worries, glad you enjoyed it…well, at that stage anyway!

nogoalielikeme – Cheers, glad you liked it! Yes, Harry is the most powerful wizard…now!

DAVE – I only made Harry be able to play at Xmas so he can concentrate on his final year…without too many distractions.

kaan – No worries, so do I actually! Hope you get (at least a tiny bit of!) inspiration from this!

ali – Harry is now the most powerful wizard in the world…since Voldemort is gone! Harremus was able to beat Voldemort, as his combined power was higher than Voldemort's…just. See my comments before this 'thanks' bit for a better explanation.

dude04 – Point taken…not going to change it though. Harry wanted to be an Auror, and I reckon he knows he has to pick up his marks to achieve it. If you like, just imagine that he's going through his notes and stuff!

Harry Potter – You are, of course, perfectly entitled to your opinion, which I respect. Thanks for taking the time to review it.

Kei Ikari – No worries, hope you enjoyed the rest of it!

mosleyn001 – Thanks, glad you found it nice to read. Hope you like the rest of them! I end all my stories with 'Fin', so unless I have, it's not the last chapter of the story!

dead feather – No, Harry gave Peter's wand to Remus. Glad you found it interesting…at _that_ stage anyway, lol! As for the floo powder…fair point. I wrote it like that meaning that Harry would be still trying to come to grips with exactly what had happened (hope that makes sense).

in the roots of darkness – I know what you mean with Draco…I personally just cannot see him willingly bowing to _anyone_. Having said that, I also can't see him turning totally good either. He can be annoying at times, but he does know people in high places…well, his father does anyway. Potentially a vital player in the final two books (talking about Draco still)…I think so (and therefore I will be _completely_ wrong, lol!).

Mpro1 – Kill Remus! Perish the thought! I could _never_ do that to him (well, no, I probably could…but I'd hate myself forever though). Remus is, by far, my all-time favourite character of the series. Oh, and I _don't_ apologise for writing what I did in ch 15 (or 30 either, for that matter!)…after all, I _did_ have a much better use for him!

hpfanchrissy1502 – My sincere thanks for your comments, hope you enjoyed the rest of it!

sirius009 – No worries, glad you seemed to enjoy it!

nandhp – Thanks, glad you reckon the chapter titles were ok. Hope you liked the story! Oh, and _all_ authors like leaving their readers hanging though, lol!

tramp3834 – I did that once in Dormant (just had the result), but I still like to try to write it! Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you enjoyed Dormant, hope you liked BotE too! Oh, and I believe my exact words were "I HATE writing Quidditch stuff!"…not just dislike, lol, so thanks for being very kind!

crazy-lil-nae-nae – Cheers, hope you enjoyed the rest of it!

CaptainSammish – No worries about being 'picky'. I'm more than aware that my grammar is rubbish! Glad you thought it was a good read! I actually enjoyed writing that, odd as that may sound considering what it's about.

benwa – Nope, it wasn't Bob…or Draco. Remember chapter 21, Harry does ask if he can trust Ron. That was quite a major hint I'd reckon ("excuses, excuses" I hear you say!)! The first to recognise and write about the significance of Bob remembering Godric's Hollow…impressive, most impressive.

legionsking (The Banisher) – Glad you found it interesting. I haven't read any stories that go in depth with the Dementors either. I am aware how highly unlikely my idea is though. The chances of that happening…about the same as JKR putting out book 7 a week after Half Blood Prince is released!

Moonlight Flowers (Shadow King77) – Thanks for your comments! Hope you enjoy Dormant as much if you get the time to read it! Yup, I liked writing for Bob!

Tainted13Innocence – Glad you liked the stories…and hope you aren't too mad at me about Luna! A million huh…I very much wish that, lol!

krazymelmo5385 – Thanks very much, and I hope you enjoyed the rest of it!

unknown? – Ah, yes, quite right. Even I admit that I watch it far too much…but no apes!

redblossom – Cheers, hope you enjoy Dormant too (if you haven't already read it of course). But no, Bob was Harry's loyal pet…um, servant!

LMDGIUVR4EVA – I ah…don't know what to say. Thanks very much! Just between you and me, my prequel will be better (well I reckon it will be…come on Sonic and Matt, back me up here guys!). You like 'The Lion King' too I see…it was my favourite movie for nearly 10 years, then along came Return of the King, but it's still my second favourite!

Meg101 – No worries, glad you like it! Had loads of fun writing them. Hope I updated quick enough…probably not, lol!

Necroblade – Nope, I didn't want to _completely_ rip DBZ off! Wasn't sure whether I could make the first transformation work in this to tell you the truth! The other DBZ stuff was quite easy to weave into it however.

Ugly Duckling – Er…quite right, I totally forgot about those two! My apologies and I will update it when I can. Thanks for pointing that out to me! You reckon I should update Sirius' letter too, or should I just be able to get away with changing ch 10 of Dormant? And dang, you read quick, lol!

RogueBludger – Yes, Ron. Was it _really_ that much of a shock? I guess I didn't have that many clues pointing towards him, but…eh, it's just what I had in mind.

waterdragonbabe – Um, thanks. But I'm not sure how you could say that after only reading the first chapter…not that I'm complaining!

Finbar – Lol, cheers mate! But I do believe you are quite right with that assessment! We Aussies have to stick together…despite me being on the other side of the ditch! But don't worry, I'm on the right side (figuratively) come Bledisloe Cup time!

Paula79 – I hope I updated fast enough! I tried to give everyone a few days to read each chapter before putting up the next one.

the-last-parade (FrighteningShadow) – Glad someone found my betrayal 'good'! Thanks for your comments…precise and articulate? Hmm, well _I_ wouldn't classify myself as that…not that I'm complaining, lol! I prefer to finish all my stories (at least a draft anyway) before posting them on here…I just find it easier to do that for some reason. So you can be guaranteed that if I start a fic on this site, it does indeed have an ending (and yes, I know that this ending was quite pitiful…ch 33 had a far better ending in my opinion but anyway)!

LyonsRoar – Again, my deepest apologies for doing that to Severus. I was highly surprised and honoured to see my story on your favourites list seeing as though it's not a Severus fic. I hope you enjoyed it anyway…despite the ending. Cheers for putting me onto quite a few good fics from your list!

kiwiblue – Glad you enjoyed my story. Will probably end up doing what I suggested in ch 31 with the posting of it. Yeah, Moony is cool!

hrtbreaker – Cheers…I think! Due to my (very) warped sense of humour, I am still trying to figure out if you were being sarcastic or not, but I'll assume your comment was genuine!

dark672 – Thanks, glad you liked it!

AureliaSea13 – A sequel! I'll see what I can do. Glad you like the way I write, and that you thought First Thing was a good read!

neon007 – Harry with a wife and ki…oh jeez! I cannot believe this! Very well, I shall see what I can come up with…but I can't promise anything (to be honest, I could actually use that idea though…hmm, I'll have to think about it more)! And _finally_, a decent DBZ story, cheers for that (the one about Gohan if you have no idea what I'm talking about. I haven't been able to find any that I really like before…I now have)!

Bukama Stealth – Nice idea about having Harry do both…but I thought he'd prefer a somewhat easier lifestyle. Glad you enjoyed it.

mkiara – No worries…ah yes, ch 22; Bob's first kiss, _and_ he's sixteen too! I don't believe it wrote like that, lol!

Cynthia1850 – I do hope that all the links are working! I certainly don't want anyone to be unable to read any if they are enjoying it! Glad you thought it was a good read!

laura – Thanks…I honestly wasn't sure how it would fit in with the story since it was…well, finished before I wrote that bit!

ecallers – Cheers, glad you liked it!

banannafritters – No worries, glad you liked it! A sequel…yeah I won't deny it. I'm generating some ideas for it.

Shannon Snape – Yes, Bob is quite a fitting name. Why? 'Big On Black', lol! Nah, it's just that you know how frustrating it is not remembering peoples names…I always 'help' others by asking them if it was Bob. It is always the first name I say…even for females, no idea why either!

Aubs – Glad that Dormant intrigued you enough to read BotE! And yes, I am quite all right…if a little perplexed as to why you wrote that in your review, but thanks for asking!

Matt – Yeah, I know you didn't actually review on here (unless you're one of the above names of course), but you _did_ send me an email! Glad you felt my storylines were good…and that you reckon I stuck to them well enough. I was a little concerned over my ability to do so, but it looks like quite a few people thought I did an ok job with them.

* * *

So…that's _that_ out of the way! Just kidding! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments. Most of them made me feel quite proud and embarrassed at the same time! My sincere thanks to those who read my stories. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd wind up writing fanfics…ever. I never was that brilliant with it during high school, and yet I end up writing a few. The longest thing I'd ever written prior to these was my final year Uni thesis, which was around 50 A4 pages or so. 

BotE ended up being 238…and near enough to 73 000 words (excluding my notes preceding each chapter), which is around Philosopher's (or Sorcerer's) Stone length. _Don't_ expect me to be writing anything near Order length anytime soon (shudder!)! Well…_technically_, that's not right; BotE was 238 pages with the line spacing at 16pt 'font size'. I did that to make it easier for me to read through I'd written.

What was the hardest thing to do…besides choosing to post anything at all in the first place (I'm being dead honest there)? Probably trying to get the characters 'right'. Not an easy task, but I'm happy with what I did. That was even _harder_ than trying to write Quidditch stuff! Easiest parts to write…anything to do with the Jag (I'm a _huge_ motor sport fanatic, as evidenced by the fact I went to the GP!)! Funnest (I've now _made_ it a word, all right!) section; Harremus. He was a hoot to write for. I was thinking Gotenks from DBZ obviously when I 'dreamt' him up. And if you've seen the fusion dance they use for it, you'll understand why Remus didn't want to do it initially (it looks hilarious!).

Easiest character to write; Trent. _Very_ loosely based on myself, who I think I know quite well! Easiest 'real' character though…same as the hardest actually; Remus. I imagine him as someone who has had more than his share of knocks (even more than Harry), and fiercely loyal to those he places his trust in (Sirius, James and now Harry). Trying to get him just the way I see him was very challenging, one I thoroughly enjoyed trying to rise to. I make him much more…I can't find the right word for it…emotional (that's not it, but it'll have to do) in my prequel, as you'll find out once I start posting it.

Most exciting chapter to write would be a toss up between BotE ch 11 – A Sirius Surprise, and Dormant ch 28 – Anger Unleashed. If I had to choose…ch 11. Most difficult chapter, easily BotE ch 10 – Against The Best! If you read my notes for it at the top of it, you would most likely have realised that! My best chapter though (the one I like above all others) would probably be ch 33 – Reflections, now that I think about it (despite it not originally being in it at all). Why? It just seemed…fitting I guess. I felt it had a far better ending than ch 34. Perhaps I should have cut that one instead…but I wanted to write a little bit about what they got up to post-Hogwarts.

So, which story is my favourite (excluding my prequel…I'll tell you why in it)? Quite tough to choose really. I feel BotE has a slightly more interesting storyline, and is funnier. But Dormant was my first, and therefore will always mean that little bit more to me. Even so, I would have to choose BotE…_just_. But only because I had such fun writing the stuff to do with Harremus, Bob and the portrait, plus it was a tiny bit easier to write…_once_ I got going. And therein lies quite a tale!

'Beginning of the End' was initially rather difficult to write…not because I didn't _want_ to write a sequel, but because of another reason which I shall do my best to explain now. When you write a story, based on stuff from something else (eg; your own version of Harry's 6th year, using JKR's books as prelude) it's quite easy, because you can answer the questions _you_ want to answer, and put in the info that _you_ want to. A sequel to it though…much more challenging I found.

Why? I'll use a motor racing idea (not much, so don't worry!) to tell you what I mean. If you're designing a race car from scratch, all you have to do is follow the rules and regulations the officials make (in Dormant's case, trying to get my characters to 'feel' right. Then adding my storyline). But to develop a car for the _next_ season…not only do you have to follow the rules and regs, you also have to take your _last_ car, and make it better.

_That_ is what I found difficult…linking my sequel with Dormant _as well_ as JKR's books. I got through it in the end by saying to myself that it wasn't a sequel, but a continuation. Dormant and Beginning are one story, just split up. Does that make sense (probably not, lol)?

Um…inspiration for my fics? All of the stuff I listed in my warning thingy, along with loads of other fics I've read. But in terms of music…depends really. For the action scenes, I was listening to stuff like Guns n' Roses or Bon Jovi. For pretty much everything else I was listening to Keane, Savage Garden, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Smashmouth, Travis, Dido, Queen…hmm, that's quite a range! Basically, I just wrote whatever popped into my head, then figured out whether or not I could use it once I started to get the story in order.

My advice (I'll warn you; it normally sucks!) to anyone wanting to write a fic…do it! Some people will say for you to not rush into your fics, and make sure they're 'perfect' (well, as much as you can anyway) before you post it (use loads of betas basically). I would agree with that, even though I myself didn't do it…did I Sonic! You'd know about that since you were my only beta for these two!

I'd also suggest writing down your ideas as they come to you (well, when you get the chance to, I mean. I'm not saying you should drop everything right that very second!), even if it's only one paragraph or something. Quite often, that _one paragraph_ can lead to four or five pages worth, this happened to me on lots of occasions! It doesn't even have to be in order, if you saw my notes you'd wonder how in Merlin's name (jeez, now I'm stuck in 'Harry Potter' mode!) I managed to fit it all together!

As for chapter lengths…mine averaged around 2100 words, and about seven pages, for my main two stories. Don't know why, but it just seemed a nice round number…not too long, and (hopefully) not too short. I don't have any problems with people writing 40 pages or more per chapter…just takes me WAY longer to read them, lol!

The other thing (and this is just a personal thing) is to try your best to make the characters 'real'. Or if you are changing a character totally (eg; making Harry go Dark), make sure you try to explain it (of course, you can just _say_ you're making people OOC). You don't have to do it straight away, but when I read fics, I hate it when someone has amazing powers, but there's no explanation _how_ they got them (that's quite hypocritical of me since I did that very thing with Trent, but I kind of got around it by saying Dumbledore trained him…I hope!) Particularly if there's no sequel or a prequel. In those, you _can_ explain it, and I'll give you the benefit of doubt ;-P

Great, I probably sound like a prat by saying all that now! My last bit of advice is this; make sure you _enjoy_ writing it. If you're not, change it. After all, it's _your_ story!

If you want an example, I'll give you one; Dormant Power. When Harry has his first transformation (his white glow), I was never _going_ to have that. Dormant was originally going to be about Harry awakening his metaph…meta…the same thing Tonks is! Metamorphmagus, that's it! Tonks was going to be Defence Prof, and Harry would be learning about it from her. He'd still beat Voldemort in the end, but I hadn't figured out how.

I spent about two months writing the first three chapters of Dormant, and abandoned it in…June last year I think. Then, when reading another authors profile in September, they asked if it was just them, or did Harry's hair fly up more every time he shouted "Expecto Patronum" in the movie. I think I mentioned that someplace before, but anyway. After that, the whole 'hey, I could combine HP and DBZ!' idea came into light, and the words just kept flowing. It was odd; two months for three chapters, then the next…60 or so, took less than four!

I wouldn't classify my stories as a crossover though. I don't introduce characters from DBZ into this, I've merely borrowed some ideas from it (the Spirit Room, solar burst charm, cosmino halo, fusion, and, of course, the transformation). Even then, the final battle was going to be different. I was going to have Harry getting his backside kicked, and to…ahem, 'borrow' another idea from DBZ. That was before I thought about using the fusion thing, which, I'd have to say, allowed the story to have a bit more humour!

* * *

As I've said before, I've started writing a Harry Potter and Star Wars crossover. Haven't worked on it for a while (instead choosing to focus on my Marauder one). Now I think about it more…I'll still write it, but you'll have to take it as it is. It's most certainly _not_ believable, and I've tried to put romance in it…if that doesn't scare you off from reading it, _nothing_ will! 

A few people have asked about a possible sequel…while I hadn't intended to, I'm not discounting that possibility out just yet. I do have a few ideas on what I _could_ do, and I now have the foundation of a storyline, so hopefully it'll just flow from there…much like all my others have (so in other words; watch this space!). I even have a title and (extended) summary for it. I won't put it up since you won't see the story for quite some time (I am unsure if the draft will even be done by the end of 2005).

Sigh, right, that's it from me. Remember, I'm going to take a break from posting for a while. I have heard from one beta that it'll be a few weeks before they can come back to me about the prequel. Until I hear back from both of them though…I won't start posting it. Just keep checking my profile, it should let you know if I've started on it. I won't post around the time Half Blood Prince is released but…and obviously all my stories will then be AU, but hopefully you won't mind reading them.

This year should be great; Star Wars 3, HP book 6, and HP movie 4 to finish it off, brilliant! Again, thanks to everyone, hope you all enjoyed reading these as much as I did while writing them.

* * *

Ah yes, I mentioned a treat…so here it is; a teaser for my prequel. Just to let you know what I have in store… 

The Definitive Year:

_It's 1976 and the Dark Lord, Voldemort, is at the height of his power. The first war has begun. Inside Hogwarts however, Albus Dumbledore has taken measures to ensure the students safety. The Marauders are in their final year. Their friendship is strong, but will it be enough to survive in this time of darkness?_

The other Gryffindors watched as Remus came marching into the common room before stomping up to the dorms. His face had a look on it that suggested if anyone got in his way, they'd be instantly vaporised. As the young wizard threw himself on his bed, he could feel the tears stinging his eyes. He wasn't upset, he was beside himself.

'How could he _do_ that? After what happened two years ago when he told Snape to follow me, I thought he'd learnt. He _must_ remember how long it took for me to even _think_ about trusting him again. And now he does this…Sirius, you…you…_idiot_! And then to be…'

Remus was brought from his thoughts when the door creaked open and he could smell an unwanted scent.

"I have nothing to say to you" he coolly said, slowly getting off his bed and standing up.

"R…Remus, I'm sor…"

Sirius was cut off when a jet of light hit the wall beside him.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me. Leave. Now. Black. I _won't_ miss next time" Remus spoke in a low voice through gritted teeth, his wand pointed straight at his friends' heart.

"Please, let me expl…"

Again he was cut off when a beam of light crashed into his body, sending him back through the open door. Sirius flew across the common room and there was a loud 'crack' as he used his arm to stop his head from smashing into the wall.

All commotion ceased when this happened, and Sirius gingerly stood up, cradling his right arm. He then saw Remus, eyes ablaze with fury at the top of the stairs.

"GET OUT! DON'T YOU GET IT, BLACK? I _DON'T_ WANT TO TALK RIGHT NOW, PARTICULARLY NOT TO _YOU_! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Sirius flinched but quickly left the room without another word. He knew he'd done it this time; he'd betrayed his best friend…again.

* * *

I, ah, do believe that will suffice…for now! As I mentioned earlier, the draft version is finished. 

Cheers, and my sincere thanks to everyone for reading my stories…again!

Yours in ficcyness reading (Tez-gm)!


	36. Timeline

Alright then, this is the timeline for all my stories (excluding those that don't relate to it of course). I already know it's slightly off, but basically this is how I imagined things went when I was writing.

The italics is the stuff that relates directly to my stories. In other words, mainly all the stuff about Trent really.

This might be familiar to those who have read Definitive Year since I have moved it from there...should fit in better now.

**Timeline; Definitive Year, Dormant Power and Beginning of the End**

June 1945 – Tom Riddle finishes his final year at Hogwarts

October 1945 – Tom Riddle discards his past, and becomes Lord Voldemort. He begins his quest to become immortal. _The remnants of Tom Riddle start to take the form of another person_

_August 1950 – Trent Fuller 'born'_

1959 – Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, James Potter and Lily Evans born

_January 1961 – Trent starts his wizarding education in Australia_

_1966 – Remus and his brother, Romulus, are attacked by werewolves. Romulus is killed while Remus gets bitten_

_November 1967 – Trent finishes his education_

_June 1969 – Trent begins his Auror training_

September 1, 1970 – Remus, Peter, Sirius, James and Lily start their first year at Hogwarts

May 1972 – Peter, Sirius and James figure out that Remus is a werewolf. They vow to become animagi to accompany their friend.

_April 1973 –_ _Trent finishes his Auror training_

November 1974 – Peter, Sirius and James complete their animagus transformations and become a rat, a dog and a stag respectively. They give each other their nicknames and their map is created.

June 1975 – Whomping Willow incident, Severus Snape finds out about Remus being a werewolf

_April 1976 – Trent heads back to the UK and enrols as an Auror with the Ministry_

_July 1976 – Remus' parents murdered by Death Eaters, with Trent being one of the first Aurors to arrive on the scene afterwards_

September 1, 1976 – Remus, Peter, Sirius, James and Lily begin their final year at Hogwarts. _Albus Dumbledore allows Aurors (one of whom is Trent) to be posted around the school for additional protection against the threat of Lord Voldemort_

_March 1977 – Trent has Remus and James 'help' him during one of his patrols. Sirius overhears Trent and Remus' private conversation before being attacked in the forest_

_April 1977 – Trent gets caught by Death Eaters at Hogsmeade but later escapes and vanishes. His wand is destroyed by Bellatrix Lestrange_

June 1977 – Remus, Peter, Sirius, James and Lily finish their final year. _The Marauder's oath is created_

_May 1978 – Albus takes Trent, who has lived for the last year as a muggle, to the Spirit Room to train him. He finds out about Trent having the ability to do wandless magic. Albus passes the role of the room's guardian over to Trent. Trent fully transforms for the first time_

June 1979 – James and Lily marry, Sirius is made best man

May 1980 – Albus hears the prophecy in its entirety. _Severus overhears the beginning of it, before being thrown outside. He then informs Voldemort about it, before being caught (by Sirius and James) and convinced to switch sides by Albus, who offers him protection in return_

July 1980 – Harry Potter born, Sirius is made his Godfather

_August 1980 – The portrait of Remus, Peter, Sirius, James and Lily is made_

September 1980 – Peter turns against his friends and joins Voldemort

October 1981 – Peter is made the Potters secret keeper, then promptly informs Voldemort who murders James and Lily. He tries to do the same to Harry, but the spell backfires. _Trent rushes to the scene and drags Harry outside before the house collapses. James and Lily's wands fuse together. Trent senses Hagrid and Sirius arriving and flees, with the new wand. He collapses into a coma when he gets home_. Hagrid and Sirius exchange words about what is to happen to Harry, who is placed with Petunia and Vernon Dursley on Albus' orders

November 1981 – Sirius goes after Peter who pretends to kill himself before transforming into a rat and disappearing. Sirius gets thrown into Azkaban without a trial. _Trent begins to learn about who he really is during his coma_

* * *

Now we skip to some ten years later… 

July 31, 1991 – Harry gets his first Hogwarts letter on his 11th birthday

August 1991 – Harry leaves with Hagrid after finally reading the letter

September 1, 1991 – Harry starts at Hogwarts where meets his best friend Ronald Weasley

October 1991 – Troll incident, Harry and Ron become friends with Hermione Granger

June 1992 – Harry faces Voldemort for the second time, and survives again. Albus tells him about the blood magic Lily used to save him from Voldemort the first time around. _Trent wakes up from his coma, and now is flawless in wandless magic and martial arts, while being highly skilled in Potions also. He hones his skills alone in the Spirit Room_

May 1993 – Harry saves Ginny Weasley from a younger Voldemortin the Chamber of Secrets. He kills the basilisk but gets bitten in the process. Albus' phoenix, Fawkes, uses his tears to heal him

July 1993 – Sirius escapes from Azkaban. He's the only one who knows that Peter is still alive, and is posing as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. Remus accepts an offer to become the new Defence Professor for the upcoming year

June 1994 – Harry learns the truth about Peter betraying his parents. Peter escapes after Remus transforms into a werewolf. Sirius prevents his friend from killing Harry, Ron, Hermione and Severus. Harry and Hermione use the timeturner to go back and free Buckbeak the Hippogriff, before letting Sirius escape into the night. Harry realises he saw himself and not James cast the Patronus that saved his, Sirius' and Hermione's lives

August 1994 – Dark Mark appears at the Quidditch World Cup final

October 1994 – Harry's name comes out of the goblet. He is the fourth triwizard champion

June 1995 – Voldemort is resurrected, 'helped' by Harry. The Death Eaters arrive shortly afterwards. Harry duels with Voldemort and manages to escape, fleeing back to Hogwarts with Cedric Diggory's dead body. Albus informs the Minister of Voldemort's rise, but Cornelius Fudge doesn't want to believe it. After Cornelius leaves, Albus informs several people that the Order of the Phoenix is to be reformed

August 1995 – Harry is taken to Grimmauld Place after he and his cousin, Dudley Dursley, were attacked by Dementors. He learns that the media is making him and Albus out to be idiots. Sirius lets slip something about a weapon that Voldemort is after

October 1995 – Voldemort breaks his followers out of Azkaban

December 1995 – Harry has one of his first Voldemort induced visions; he sees Ron's father attacked by a snake

January 1996 – Severus informs Harry that Albus wants him, Severus, to teach Harry Occlumency. Harry is left in the dark about why though

June 1996 – Death of Sirius. Harry is tricked into going to the Department of Mysteries (DoM) by Voldemort. He thought he was going to save Sirius, in the end it was Sirius, along with several others, who came to save Harry and his friends. Voldemort possesses Harry, who is able to throw the Dark Lord out of his mind. Albus finally tells Harry about the prophecy

* * *

Ok, so that's what happens up to the end of Order of the Phoenix. Again, the exact timing is most likely a bit off, but this is the order in which I imagine these events to happen. And again, the _italics_ are my stuff. I know they didn't happen, but for the sake of my stories, this would be where those events fit in. Everything beyond this is based from 'Dormant', 'Apprentice' and 'BotE', in other words, it's all made up (hence why it's all in _italics_)! 

_July 1996 – Peter comes to Privet Drive posing as Vernon. Harry figures this out and stuns him. Remus gets his first experience with Peter's silver hand. Trent visits Remus and takes him to the Spirit Room where he cures Remus' lycanthropy. Harry is taken to Grimmauld Place, where he has his first power surge. Trent shows up after this, and offers to train Harry. Since Peter was caught, Sirius' name is cleared_

_August 1996 – Harry begins his training, under the watchful eyes of Remus and Trent. Trent tells both of them his story. Harry finds out Peter is being held at Hogwarts. Sirius' funeral is held at Godric's Hollow, the same location Harry's parents perished nearly fifteen years earlier_

_September 1, 1996 – Sybill Trelawney makes her third prediction (1; the original prophecy, 2; Peter's escape that night in Harry's third year)._

_October 1996 – Voldemort once again breaks into Azkaban, freeing those caught from the DoM battle._

_November 1996 – Harry confronts Peter who confesses under Veritaserum that he was tortured until he gave up James and Lily's location_

_December 1996 – Harry tells Remus about the prophecy. Trent takes Harry to the Spirit Room for some more training, but despite having enough power, Harry is unable to undergo the ultimate transformation. Harry becomes the new guardian of the Spirit Room_

_January 1997 – Harry teams up with Peter; Harry wants Voldemort, Peter wants freedom_

_May 1997 – Harry and Peter go after Voldemort. Albus, Trent and Remus go after them. Harry finally transforms_

_June 1997 – Remus takes Harry back to Godric's Hollow, where he shows Harry the restored house of his parents. Remus asks Harry if the Order can use it as their headquarters_

_August 1997 – Harry finds the portrait of Remus, Peter, Sirius, James and Lily in his new vault. Harry helps Remus to fully transform_

_September 1, 1997 – Harry, Ron and Hermione start their final year_

_October 1997 – Draco Malfoy switches sides and fights against Voldemort. Harry 'captures' a Dementor, who accepts his offer to work with Harry, in return for Dark wizards' souls (aka Death Eaters and Voldemort)_

_December 1997 – Harry figures out how Voldemort survived his own Killing curse. Final visit to the Spirit Room; Harry manages to destroy his Boggart-Dementor with a modified Patronus. Diagon Alley attack; Harry collapses from exhaustion, Lucius Malfoy places Ron under the Imperius curse_

_April 1998 – The war ends, Harry fulfils the prophecy…but barely escapes with his life_

_July 2002 – Harry accepts the offer to teach Defence at Hogwarts_

So there you have it. All five stories summed up in one 'chapter'! Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and to those who also decided to read them. It was much appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed them, I know I certainly enjoyed writing them!

* * *

The sequel? Ah yes, I recall saying I'd write one! I only hope it lives up to some expectations (mine especially!). Remember, I had not intended on writing a sequel for BotE…then again, I also said I wouldn't write this one either, lol! It was a lot harder to write than my previous stories…and is quite a bit wider in scope (you'll see what I mean when I start posting it). 

It does not follow the cannon pairings, so hopefully that doesn't put too many people off reading it. Oh, you might like to know that there is one MASSIVE hint in this story that plays the most vital role in my sequel ("oh sure, _now_ he tells us!"). I am betting that you won't find it…I hope you prove me wrong! Here's the full summary, along with a short piece, for it.

Harry Potter and the White Feather:

_A decade on from defeating Voldemort, Harry and his friends are finally able to relax. However, it seems as though fate has other ideas for the young saviour. A freak accident sends Harry and Remus through time, where they are again faced with a Wizarding world at war. Despite being able to get back home, and with the odds stacked heavily against them, they elect to stay and help with the fight. Can Harry prove, once and for all, that he is one of the greatest wizards in history?_

Silence followed, before Harry looked at Remus and sighed. "I want you to know, Remus, that if I don't come back…"

"You will, Harry," Remus cut in, but Harry ignored him.

"…that I want you to have the mansion. I've left a will in my trunk. I have only one more thing to give you."

With that, Harry withdrew a piece of parchment and handed it to him.

"This isn't the map," Remus said, for the parchment was new and far smaller.

"Quite right. It's the instructions to enter the Spirit Room. Make sure you pass it on before your time is up."

Remus was stunned. By all accounts, it was as if…

His face dawned in realisation. "Oh no, you are _not_ doing what I think you are!"

Harry tried to speak, but found he couldn't. A single tear slid down his face as he nodded.

"How can you even _think_ like that?!" Remus angrily asked.

"I don't have much choice…"

"There's always a choice, Harry," he interrupted, still not believing his ears.

Harry sighed and shook his head sadly. "I don't expect you to understand…"

"Oh, I think I understand it perfectly. You intend to sacrifice yourself! That's the easy way out and you know it!"

Harry's eyes flashed in anger and he pointed his wand at Remus' chest. "Don't you _ever_ say that again. You don't have _any_ idea how this spell works, so stop jumping to conclusions!" he spat.

Remus wasn't taking any of it. "Then _tell_ me how it works!" he growled.

Harry glared at him, before lowering his wand and sighing. "I…I can't, Remus. Just…just know that it's for the best."

Before Remus could even reply, Harry apparated with a 'pop'.

* * *

Sorry, but that seems like a nice place to end this…after all, that bit is not part of _this_ story! Not entirely sure when I'll start posting it, but I am hoping to start in a few weeks! It has some of my more interesting theories in them, and almost rivals Definitive Year for which I believe is my best (in other words, I reckon it's not too shabby, lol!). 

Cheers, Tez-gm

PS: how silly of me, I forgot to add a date to the timeline.

_August 24, 2007__ – Harry Potter and the White Feather begins… _


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